Following Fu Xingchuan’s movements, the corpse cage shook slightly.
Those little white monsters were still crawling on the ground, shaking out strange afterimages. They seemed to have sensed something, lost interest in everyone present, and slowly crawled into the depths of darkness, receding like the tide.
The shaking stopped. Luo Wanxiang let out a sigh of relief.
She snapped on a portable light and illuminated the small flesh cavity like day.
Luo Wanxiang’s short hair was messed up, and there were traces of mucus on her goggles. Her situation was barely okay. Her work clothes were probably made from waterproof materials, as the damage wasn’t serious. Zhong Chengshuo couldn’t help but take a few more looks.
The mechanical ball next to Luo Wanxiang smoothly broadcasted steadily. “Terrain fine scanning progress 96%… 99%… Scanning complete. Navigation route has been pushed.”
“We’ll go through the esophagus. Any anomalous spaces or unidentified organisms will be detected by my AI,” Luo Wanxiang announced as she handed the map over to the other three people. “As long as there’s no issues with the route, we should be able to leave here within two hours.”
Yin Ren hummed, not making any comments.
“Wait a minute. Wait a minute!”
Lu Xiaohe opened the communication and shouted into the headsets.
“Their close-range data is very detailed, but we have the big topographic map.” Lu Xiaohe coughed several times. “Zhong Chengshuo, send her the data from my additional scans. I’ll be able to contact Ge Tingting and Huang Jin soon… Hey, what’s up with this signal data?”
[Meow.]
There was a thin cat cry deep in his ears, causing Yin Ren to raise his brows.
A few steps away from him, San Jie covered her head, causing the ethnic ornaments she was wearing to collide with each other, making a soft rattling sound. Her hair was braided into a thick black braid at the back of her head, and when she lowered her head like this, the thick braid slid in front of her.
“In my head…. There’s a cat meowing…” After being attacked by the white monster, her spirit hadn’t been stable.
Yin Ren comforted, “Don’t be nervous, I heard it too.”
Zhong Chengshuo, who didn’t hear it, took out his hardcover notebook with interest and recorded the discovery—Luo Wanxiang had no special reaction. The cat’s meow was probably only heard by cultivators. When they returned home, he would study this with Yin Ren.
As he was writing, the tip of Zhong Chengshuo’s pen stopped subconsciously.
The concepts of “returning home” and “doing things together” for those two were now as natural as breathing… and it was a wonderful feeling.
“Cognitive coordinates are confirmed. Contact established. Lu Xiaohe, write down the signal band. I’ll help you establish communication later.” In the unilateral headset, Dr. Meiqiu’s purring voice was clear.
“How did you do that?!” Lu Xiaohe drew a cold, deep breath.
Zhong Chengshuo had the same question.
In addition to being a person with the “Infinite” branch ability, Meiqiu was still a true domestic cat in terms of lifespan, habits, and physical traits. It couldn’t withstand such a high load, let alone use human techniques, but it could influence human cultivators in some form.
Dr. Cat, well aware of its advantages, purred contentedly. “Why should I tell you?”
The subtle sound of teeth grinding came from Lu Xiaohe’s communication.
“We haven’t even hit the road yet, but the three rear commanders are already in a heated discussion,” Yin Ren leaned in and whispered. “They’re really competitive.”
Zhong Chengshuo: “The two million bonus is enough for you to eat 10,000 times at your favorite BBQ buffet, which means you can eat one meal a day for 27 years.”
Yin Ren stood at attention in an instant, showing a very serious look.
“Very good. Now the number of people on both sides is equal, and there’s a rear commander following each field.”
While Dr. Meiqiu of Yandu showed off, there was a sense of urgency in Lu Xiaohe’s voice. She took a sip of water and cleared her throat.
“Then the rear commanders of the respective teams are responsible for short-range intelligence judgments, and I’m responsible for information communication and general route coordination between the two teams. In this way, everyone can get points, and there won’t be any duplication of work.”
Linnan’s AI Commander: “Roger that.”
Dr. Cat disdainfully commented, “Why are you so nervous? Anyway, even if I don’t win, I have enough money to spend in my life.”
Lu Xiaohe took a deep breath. “Anyone who has objections can say so in advance.”
Meiqiu: “No objections. Your judgment is fine. I’m just not happy listening to human orders.”
“Crack.”
In the unilateral headset, there was the sound of Lu Xiaohe crushing a can angrily.
Luo Wanxiang leaned against the wall of flesh and scratched her head. “Anyway, that’s the way it is. Let’s follow the big map and leave…”
Zhong Chengshuo poked Yin Ren in the back.
Yin Ren was thinking about something, so he didn’t respond for a while. Zhong Chengshuo looked at the other’s long, waterfall-like hair and decided to use the wonderful touch he had experienced just now…
Comrade Xiao Zhong opened his arms, wrapped his arms around Yin Ren’s shoulders, and then rested his chin on it. Sure enough, his adrenaline and dopamine were secreted at the same time, and they were once again mixed into an electrified excitement and resistance.
Luo Wanxiang’s face twitched for a moment, and it was clear that she was struggling for a bit before finally deciding to pretend she hadn’t seen anything.
Yin Ren, on the other hand, was literally taken aback. “Zhong Ge?”
Zhong Chengshuo turned his head sideways, and a small goosebump appeared on the side of Yin Ren’s neck, and then it gradually turned light red.
“I have an objection.” Zhong Chengshuo’s voice was too small to be heard. “You let me be lazy, but I’m a bit stifled.”
Yin Ren couldn’t help but stretch out his hand and rub the other’s warm hair. “…Go on.”
After receiving confirmation, Zhong Chengshuo quickly raised his voice. “We can’t go through the esophagus.”
Lu Xiaohe and Luo Wanxiang said “Ah?” at almost the same time.
“This is not an ‘escape game’, it’s a ‘skirmish’.” Zhong Chengshuo spoke without letting go of Yin Ren. “Whether it was bugs or other traps before, strictly speaking, it was an inherent part of this environment.”
The mechanical ball carrying the AI floated beside Zhong Chengshuo, and a flashing red light rushed straight to his face.
Zhong Chengshuo subconsciously let go of Yin Ren and wanted to stand up straight and speak as before… Ah, no, no, he had to be as lazy as possible.
Thinking of this, Zhong Chengshuo clung to Yin Ren again. Imitating Yin Ren’s relaxed appearance, he scattered his weight on his lover and worked hard to implement the lazy plan.
“The previous time was mostly an ‘adaptation period’ for us to get used to the environment and try to take action. Now that everyone’s actions are relatively clear, it’s time for Shian to take action—in a real skirmish, there will definitely be enemies.”
Luo Wanxiang shivered.
Zhong Chengshuo was lying on Yin Ren’s shoulder. His eyes behind the glasses seemed to absorb all light, while Yin Ren’s face was so beautiful to the point of abnormality. Coupled with the stench of corpses coming from all directions, the scene not only didn’t look sticky and ambiguous but was eerie.
She previously thought Zhong Chengshuo was just an add-on.
Yin Ren looked outstanding and was adept at handling things. On the other hand, Zhong Chengshuo only had various scattered props with little spiritual reaction. He was probably in a supporting role similar to a “human scientific encyclopedia”.
But now, even as a science post, she could detect an almost intuitive “something’s wrong”.
Luo Wanxiang: “You mean, those messy things are just the appetizers of the environment, and next, Shian may take the initiative with a ‘hostile attitude’?”
Zhong Chengshuo hummed naturally as if it were a matter of course that “Shian may be hostile”.
“Individual actions are fine, but we’re now taking a joint route. In order to ensure the difficulty of the competition, Shian may proactively set up ambushes on the ‘main road’.”
“Since it’s joint, I suggest going the opposite way. We go in the direction of the abdomen, rendezvous with the Yandu branch, and concentrate our strength on puncturing a hole to leave.”
“But there are too many uncontrollable factors with that approach,” Lu Xiaohe, who had been listening all along, didn’t directly refute the idea. “Aside from the difficulty of meeting up, the outside corrupt organizations are unstable. If we deviate from the natural passages within the human body, we might not be able to respond well if we’re attacked…”
“Linnan is well equipped,” Zhong Chengshuo replied as he stared at Luo Wanxiang’s bulging pockets.
……
Ten minutes later, Zhong Chengshuo was walking towards the esophagus with his head down.
His proposal was rejected, and the reason for the rejection was simple—San Jie was blind, and it was too risky to act rashly. Luo Wanxiang said she wanted to take it step by step. Since the owner of the equipment was unwilling to cooperate, they could only proceed slowly in the direction of the oral cavity.
However, Miss Luo, the mechanic, didn’t deny Zhong Chengshuo’s point.
She asked the mechanical ball to patrol in front over and over again and only dared to move when she was sure it was okay. Lu Xiaohe and Meiqiu were busy setting up Ge Tingting’s and the others’ communication, so the surrounding area suddenly became quiet.
Under the lighting of the mechanical ball, the narrow and rotten esophagus was like a dark tunnel.
Zhong Chengshuo’s gaze swept towards Yin Ren as always, but this time the other party didn’t look back at him. Zhong Chengshuo followed Yin Ren’s gaze and found he was looking at San Jie’s bone necklace.
Before he had time to ask, Yin Ren had already stood beside San Jie. “You also encountered that kind of white monster? It’s so scary. I almost collapsed.”
The “palpitations” in his tone were so real that Zhong Chengshuo couldn’t tell if they actually came from the heart or not.
“We have also encountered people from Sunken Society who can ‘Resonate’ before, and it feels quite similar… That kind of monster also has special abilities?”
Yin Ren’s tone was just right, with the casualness of “chatting casually with comrades in arms”, making it difficult for people to refuse.
Zhong Chengshuo’s eyes lit up. Something close to happiness rose in his heart—before he could figure out how to be polite, his social master took the lead.
Sure enough, the comrades of the Linnan branch fell for the trap.
“It’s not a specific ability.” San Jie shook her head honestly. “You got it backwards. It’s not that they are like people with the ‘Resonance’ ability, but that the ‘Resonance’ branch is like them… There are records in my house. They appeared two thousand years ago, but the earliest special abilities in people only appeared a thousand years ago.”
Speaking of this, she was a little lost.
“The records in my family are too complicated and messy, so they haven’t been fully recognized by the officials yet… But my grandparents won’t lie to me.”
“Do you have research on ‘those things’?” Lord Ghost King asked. “Your response was much better than mine just now. I don’t think they harassed you much… Ah, if it’s confidential, then pretend as if I didn’t ask.”
Luo Wanxiang, who was walking in front, turned her head and looked at Yin Ren warily.
“It’s okay, Luoluo. We’re living creatures in this world. There’s nothing we can’t talk about.” At this moment, Sanjie’s eyes seemed unimpaired again, as her dull gaze turned towards Luo Wanxiang.
There was a hint of majesty in her voice.
For fear of missing something, Zhong Chengshuo turned on his cell phone and started recording as he stared at the girl dressed as a shaman.
“They are neither creatures nor evil things. We are just aware of their existence.” San Jie introduced in a slightly hoarse voice.
“People with strong psychic abilities or lunatics can vaguely sense them. They can influence people’s emotions, causing them to shout, laugh, or achieve enlightenment and bliss. Some people don’t eat, drink, or sleep, just to enhance their spirituality and experience the joy of spiritual communication… but if they make a mistake and come into contact with the wrong ‘type’, there are also those who become insane and commit suicide.”
San Jie made a prayer gesture and let out a long sigh.
“There was an old man who told me before that if you walk to a place that doesn’t exist, you can see them. If you dream too deeply, you will see them. If you touch them rashly, your mind will be destroyed. As for how to resist the influence…”
Zhong Chengshuo looked past Yin Ren and gazed eagerly at Sang Jie, wishing he could record the conversation in place of his phone.
“I’m sorry. I’m afraid I can’t ‘teach’ you how to resist their influence.”
San Jie touched the bones of her ancestors on her chest, and her tone became a bit more reverent.
“I can resist them to some extent, thanks to the protection of the spirits of my ancestors’ remains in heaven. I have no right to lend them.”
Oh, it’s this kind of arcane and mysterious explanation again. Zhong Chengshuo had an expression as if he had been punched.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t borrow the human bone necklace for research…
Yin Ren looked at his lover, whose face was cloudy and gloomy, and continued amiably, “Is that all? It’s quite interesting. Let’s talk about it more, even if it’s just some stories.”
San Jie was also a member of the special investigation team in Shian. She shook her head. “Now is not the time to tell stories, but I can tell you one thing…”
“They neither live nor die, and our elders call them ‘Primordial Elementals’.”
“A powerful ancestor predicted that the appearance of the Primordial Elementals in the world is a sign of the end of the world… Ah, appearing in this place doesn’t count as an appearance, right?”
She nervously pinched the corners of her clothes.
The author has something to say:
Xiao Zhong: I don’t know how to be lazy.
Xiao Zhong:
Xiao Zhong: Just imitate Yin Ren.
Xiao Yin: ?
Of course, if you count inflation, you can’t get BBQ for 27 years…! But such calculation is still shocking. Two million is really a lot.
Even if a cat had a Ph.D., with the nape of its neck being held, it was still subjected to the whims of fate.
Dr. Cat was well-behaved. It hung softly in Yin Ren’s hand, looking like a black cloth bag. It didn’t mind being held while it grumbled and complained. Mr. Meiqiu swore all kinds of indecent words and attacked all humans present indiscriminately—it could be seen that humans weren’t ashamed to talk about cat bell*, and the same applies in reverse.
*Literally refers to a cat’s collar, but metaphorically refers to something that reveals or exposes the true nature or intentions of a person or thing. || In this context, Meiqiu is cursing up a storm, just like humans would do when angry, so regardless of species, it seems they’re the same in this aspect.
On the contrary, Yin Ren couldn’t listen to it anymore. His smile gradually stiffened, and he carefully put down the cat that was crazily spewing vulgar words.
Dr. Cat wasn’t stupid and didn’t run away immediately. It climbed up high, looking down at the four shallow humans with its black tail swishing back and forth.
“Do you want to act together?” Yin Ren pretended as if nothing had happened. “It’s more efficient and in line with Shian’s cultural spirit.”
Zhong Chengshuo kept his mind on his new task of “being lazy”. He took a step back and half-hid behind Yin Ren, acting professionally. Luo Wanxiang looked them up and down and murmured something.
“We have no problem. It’s just this cat… Ah no, this Mr. Doctor belongs to Yandu…” She scratched her head.
Dr. Cat had already started licking his paws and washing his face.
“I’m going to find my companion.”
It raised its turquoise eyes, and its two pupils widened roundly in the shadows.
“The emotions of the two men are stable, and the communication facilities on their bodies are in operation. They must have contacted their rear commander.”
It took a few seconds for Yin Ren to realize that “men” was referring to him and Zhong Chengshuo.
“The rear commander of Linnan is also a portable AI. If I join you, the distribution of rear commanders will be seriously unbalanced.” Dr. Cat bowed his head, stretched out his hind feet, and licked the fur on his stomach vigorously.
“But it’s dangerous to run around.” Luo Wanxiang reminded as kindly as she could.
Dr. Cat: “Bugs react slowly. I usually eat them as snacks… Are you humans afraid of crispy fried chicken if it were magnified hundreds of times?”
Yin Ren swallowed reflexively, causing the black cat to twitch its ear and glance at him.
“Of course, insects are a good source of protein. You can also play with them before eating. You should give it a try.”
Yin Ren couldn’t help but recall the rich insects nearby for a while and choke on his saliva.
Zhong Chengshuo patted him on the back and turned to the cat. “Your companions are near the kidney. Just in case, please keep in touch with us… Do you need additional equipment?”
Rear commanders often required mechanical equipment assistance, but there were no mechanical traces on this cat, so he didn’t know how the Yandu group usually communicated.
After the competition, it would be nice if this cat could be bribed with some canned food. Zhong Chengshuo especially wanted to do an interview with it.
“If necessary, I will take the initiative to contact you,” Dr. Cat replied in a sharp voice. “I don’t want equipment. I’m here because I’m thirsty… Quickly, share me some clean water.”
The humans looked at each other. Zhong Chengshuo took the lead by taking out a disposable water cup and poured half a glass of water.
Dr. Cat drank it clean in one breath. It looked at Zhong Chengshuo for a while, then flicked its tail and ran away silently.
Even if it was a small animal that swore a lot, cute animals were always reassuring. After the commotion caused by the black cat, Sang Jie finally calmed down. Her blind eyes turned in the direction Dr. Cat had left, but she didn’t know what she had “seen”.
As she turned around, Yin Ren secretly snorted.
Sang Jie’s symptoms of being harassed by the little monsters were mild, and it seemed that it wasn’t because of her “talent”.
Compared to when she was in the Fu residence, she had a more exaggerated bone necklace around her neck.
The necklace was undoubtedly made of human bone, and it had a history of more than two hundred years. The bones were carved with fine runes and emitted a faint aura that was much the same; most likely, they belonged to her ancestors.
The white monsters were repulsed by these bones, and only a few were willing to get close to Sang Jie.
Yin Ren found something interesting. The decision to “merge” was right.
……
The abdomen of the corpse.
It didn’t take long for Ge Tingting’s “rational plan” to slowly collapse.
If they moved forward haphazardly, their bodies would become smaller. If they didn’t constantly discern auras while walking, they could be easily attacked by giant insects that suddenly appear. However, having experienced the battle royale in Gengsheng Town, Ge Tingting had adapted well to these little things.
But there were no teammates in Gengsheng Town who were dragging her down…
Originally, she secretly expected Fu Tianyi to use his high combat abilities, but as a result, the elite of the Fu family collapsed first.
Time reversed half an hour ago.
Not long into the action, in addition to scavenging insects, they encountered misshapen monsters and also peculiar white creatures.
They emitted a faint, menacing aura as the translucent white hyphae spread around; their eyeball-like structure was always wet. These monsters were constantly wriggling in the crevices of the carrion, swimming around maliciously.
Ge Tingting accidentally touched a little bit of it, but she didn’t have any strange reactions. If anything, she became even more passionate about this competition—she was determined to become stronger and stay in Shian, where she would never have to worry about food, clothing, or good treatment.
This enthusiasm was so big that it became a bit abnormal, and it almost turned into fear of “What if I get fired”, but in general, it had a positive effect.
Auntie Tao and Huang Jin weren’t too different. They just took out their phones and stared at someone’s picture on the screensaver intently.
Huang Jin’s state was worse though; he was out of his mind.
Fortunately, Comrade Huang Jin, had been bitten by a snake, feared even rope for ten years*. After his emotions were amplified by the fleshy xanthium and Kong Wanqing, the “tranquility charm” was replaced with an “explosive spirit weapon” and became the thing that the spirit smith was best at making.
*(一朝被蛇咬十年怕井绳) Idiom referring to once someone has experienced a traumatic event, they will be very cautious and fearful in similar situations in the future (AKA once bitten, twice shy).
He dipped his fingertips in blood and drew a tranquility rune on his arm. The fresh blood exuded a faint red light. Under the red light, Huang Jin tried to take a few deep breaths and finally didn’t collapse on the spot while holding the screensaver of Ding Lizi.
Even though he seemed to want to.
A few steps away, someone else had collapsed…
Fu Tianyi almost fell. He barely leaned against the flesh wall and slid woefully to the ground. Among everyone in the group, he was the most affected.
The rookie of the Fu family had scattered hair and dirty clothes and had long since lost his initial composure. He leaned close to the wall, hugging his knees, while breathing heavily to the point of no return.
“Be careful of overbreathing.” Auntie Tao stared at the phone as she reminded him sternly.
As if ignoring the situation, Fu Tianyi‘s pupils trembled wildly, and his breathing echoed constantly in the darkness. The more he lost control, the more the white monsters crawled onto him. He took out several strange and odd-looking spirit weapons to drive them away, but they were completely ineffective.
Half a minute later, this person was covered in what looked like three feet of snow, full of little writhing white monsters.
Ge Tingting tried to use foreign objects to pull off the white monsters, but those objects simply passed through and had no effect. She didn’t want to touch them directly, so she grabbed Huang Jin’s sleeve and dragged him in front of Fu Tianyi.
“Put a tranquility talisman on him.” The tranquility talisman couldn’t peel off those little monsters, but looking at Huang Jin’s state, it had some effect on maintaining sanity.
If she saw someone dying without trying to save them, her points would certainly be deducted, was what Ge Tingting was thinking.
Huang Jin didn’t save him immediately. He looked at Fu Tianyi faintly as several white monsters circled Huang Jin’s neck. Their white eyes poked into his collar.
“He’s very attached to his family, almost having a worship-like reverence for the Fu family.” Huang Jin observed Fu Tianyi’s thoughts and said, “This attachment makes him particularly nervous, afraid of losing at home—the more he worries about the future, the less he can perform at the moment. That’s what this kind of person refers to, right?”
Ge Tingting: “…Draw the tranquility rune and leave him alone.”
Huang Jin’s tone was off. While he was usually a bit harsh, he had never been so direct before.
“Do you still want to take him with us? Be careful. He can hurt us.” Huang Jin still hadn’t started drawing the runes and kept muttering loudly. “We’re not monsters like Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo, so it’s good to take care of ourselves.”
“How do you know the result if you don’t try?” Ge Tingting hurriedly explained, “This is a competition, not a mission. We’d better take it seriously.”
“Why are you acting so serious? Have you forgotten what Shian did to you? You’re not an adult in the strict sense yet they sent you to such messy hellholes.”
“I don’t understand. If I have committed a crime, I may grumble privately if I get punished, but you don’t even have any criminal responsibility. Why do you have to seek out suffering? Are you such a masochist?”
The resentment in Huang Jin’s tone became more obvious. His breathing became faster, and a stream of tears fell from the white monster on his body.
Ge Tingting was startled.
She knew that Huang Jin was in the wrong state, but just now, the thought of “What should I do if I’m abandoned by Shian” swarmed up. Something in her heart seemed to be ignited, and it exploded and scattered in an instant. From an angle that Ge Tingting couldn’t see, the white monsters on her body had accelerated its squirming.
Some words tumbled out of her heart and went on a rampage in her head, trying to find an outlet…
“You have the skills to survive, and as long as you don’t mention it, no one will be able to see your abnormality! If you hadn’t committed a crime, you could easily find a job and make a living. What about me?”
The AI’s voice was extremely calm, but Ge Tingting’s facial features were a little distorted.
“What about me?” she asked again, holding up her phone. “Low education, communication barrier, no money, or even any skills. My fate can be seen in just a glance. Without this, I can’t even communicate with you normally. Shian is the best opportunity of my life!”
“Do you think I’m not aware of the danger? Do you think I’m not afraid of death? There’s no reason for Shian to take care of me for nothing. The only way to ensure safety is to keep training, learning, and becoming stronger. Even climb higher and never be eliminated!”
Vaguely, Ge Tingting had a feeling of stepping into air.
Her reluctance to the current situation continued to turn into panic about being abandoned, and the little white monsters gradually marched towards her.
“There has to be a limit to being brave. When a person dies, that’s it.” Huang Jin clenched his phone tightly. In the muddy darkness, Ding Lizi’s photo on his screensaver was particularly conspicuous.
“It’s easy for you to preach. What right do you have to educate me like this? Weren’t you the one who wanted to die back then?”
Ge Tingting knew that she shouldn’t have said this, but her head was buzzing, and she just wanted to pour out the emotions that she couldn’t carry. She couldn’t control the movements of her fingers at all.
Huang Jin stood straight, made a long face, and stopped painting the tranquility charm. “Alright, do whatever you want. If someone brings up some nonsense, they can deal with it themselves. I don’t care anymore—this Huang kid is just being dramatic.”
The white monsters on her shoulders and neck kept tightening, as if they were adding a white collar to her. Eventually, it kept going up and was about to completely cover Ge Tingting’s eyes.
This whole time, Auntie Tao was unusually quiet. The white hyphae had entered her mouth, but she stared at the phone screen as if it had nothing to do with her, without even blinking. Symbolizing a snowman, Fu Tianyi was still curled up in a corner of the flesh wall, and his breathing gradually became irregular.
“Meow—”
A sharp cat call cut through the darkness.
The black cat leaped out from the shadows and stepped lightly on the white monsters. Dr. Cat swept the ground with his tail, his fur standing on end, as he let out a hostile hiss.
The little monster, under some unknown influence, took a few steps back and shrank.
“Humans, look into my eyes!”
The black cat let out a huge purr, and the sound directly hit everyone’s heads. The low-frequency, soft purr was like a warm flannel blanket rubbing against the tight nerves.
As if their entire bodies were soaked in warm water, Ge Tingting suddenly relaxed, and most of the nameless fire suddenly dissipated. Huang Jin’s face looked a lot better, and Auntie Tao’s eyes became focused.
“Meiqiu. The enemy just now… Is it emotional amplification…?” Fu Tianyi struggled to stand up.
“I knew that there were ‘those things’ here,” Meiqiu said in a low voice. “Highly social animals like you are troublesome with too many messy emotions.”
Ge Tingting and Huang Jin subconsciously wanted to look at each other, but the two realized something and staggered their gaze awkwardly.
Outside the Corpse Cage.
“The cat of the ‘Infinite’ branch is a very capable science post. How interesting.” Fu Xingchuan touched his chin. “You did a lot of research, right?’
The Yandu’s branch coach, Zhou Gong, scratched his chubby face and smiled benevolently.
“We didn’t study it specifically. It was just luck. We accidentally discovered that the abilities of the ‘Infinite’ branch are not easily interfered with by the abilities of the ‘Resonance’ branch… Those little things have abilities that are somewhat similar in nature to ‘Resonance’.”
“Isn’t this a foregone conclusion? Does Yandu want to win that badly?” Fu Xingchuan raised his eyebrows. They all knew about the “things” in the Corpse Cage.
“Oh, how can you say that? I just did a little homework.” Zhou Gong laughed even more heartily.
“I see.”
Qiao Shang, the “#1 Priestess” who had been quiet all this time, finally spoke up.
“Fu Xingchuan, the Corpse Cage is a good topic. I thought you would focus on insects and small evil creatures… By making ‘those things’ a test question directly, how did you convince those above?”
Fu Xingchuan scratched the back of his head.
“Sang Jie is a shaman practitioner, and her family has always been aware of ‘those things’. Meiqiu is an Infinite ability user, and due to the mutual restraint of abilities and species differences, he can immunize against the effects of ‘attachment’. We also have several interesting kids on our side.”
“They will collide, and there may be new discoveries—all of you are people who have been specially trained in the Archive. ‘Attachment’ is the weakest among ‘those things’, isn’t it?”
Qiao Shang frowned. “That’s right, but it’s still too early for them.”
“That’s not necessarily true. The enemy doesn’t care if it’s too early or not.” Fu Xingchuan rubbed the stubble on his chin and said in a brisk tone, “Just an intuition that things will be changing soon.”
Qiao Shan looked over suspiciously, but Fu Xingchuan didn’t continue speaking.
He just stretched out a hand and pressed it on the corpse.
“Not bad, the temporary teams are basically formed. The real assessment can now begin.”
After taking a shower, Shu Jun poured himself a glass of water and sat on the edge of the bed. His body was mainly composed of erosion substance, so theoretically, he didn’t require bathing. The food he ate would also be completely broken down. However, he retained his old habits to feel normal.
Zhu Yanchen’s clothes were neatly folded and placed at the head of the bed. He lay on the bed with his face towards the wall, breathing softly and evenly. His sleeping position had improved significantly—he no longer curled up in agony, and he appeared calm and relaxed.
He left a lamp on for Shu Jun, and the dim light illuminated the edge of the bed, which made the air feel like it had been soaked in honey.
Thinking that they had once been friends, Shu Jun had a strange feeling. The string in his brain that had been tense had loosened, and at least for this second, he found some peace amidst the tension, anger, and fear.
He climbed onto the bed lightly, only to find that Marshal Zhu had wrapped himself in the blankets again. Considering the man’s listlessness throughout the day, Shu Jun could guess what had happened. He curled his lips at Zhu Yanchen’s back and wrapped himself in the blankets as well, trying to sleep as flat as possible so he could behave himself after falling asleep.
For a moment, they looked like two spring rolls laying side by side in a frying pan.
After a cold shower, Shu Jun was completely calm. His mind was clear, and he yawned a few times before quickly falling asleep.
However, Zhu Yanchen couldn’t sleep.
He could feel the bed sink as Shu Jun climbed onto it. The scent of soap mixed with body temperature exuded from Shu Jun’s body, creating a heavy vitality. The surreal feeling of reality struck him again, and Zhu Yanchen was lost in thought for a few seconds.
Then he forced himself to close his eyes and waited for the other person to fall off the bed, but unexpectedly, the other person slept until dawn without a hitch. That night, Shu Jun and the blanket battled it out, and they managed to flip the blanket over, leaving Zhu Yanchen untouched.
It was a satisfying and happy sleep, but after Marshal Zhu was fully awake, he felt a sense of loss.
Forget it. He carefully buttoned his clothes, and he pushed Shu Jun’s arms and legs back into the blanket.
An hour later, Shu Jun was awakened by Monday’s sharp scream. He sat up with messy gray hair. His claws had ripped several holes in the bedsheet. When he realized that Zhu Yanchen wasn’t in bed he panicked for two seconds.
“Breakfast is on the table and is still warm.” Zhu Yanchen sat in the armchair, manipulating the giant screen in front of him. “The faucet doesn’t have cold water anymore, and I’ve reported it to Pan Ge. Be careful not to get burned when you use it.”
“Oh,” Shu Jun got out of bed bare-chested and walked towards the bathroom in his slippers.
A’Yan was still the same A’Yan, with the same attention to detail as always. If Zhu Yanchen’s temperament weren’t so cold, Shu Jun would have considered reverting back to their online relationship and talking to him about recent emotional problems.
“Why are you up so early? What are you looking at?” Since he had nothing to do, Shu Jun brushed his teeth while approaching the screen.
“The Blackbirds’ new mission.” Zhu Yanchen had no intention of hiding anything. He tilted the screen slightly so that Shu Jun could see it more clearly. “I’m a little concerned about the content of the news broadcast.”
“The new Erosion Swamp near X City has an extremely special condition.” Shu Jun looked at the data on the screen, clenching his toothbrush with his teeth. “Hmm… it’s a bit strange.”
If its condition was really that special, Sweet Edge, who was determined to die, wouldn’t miss this opportunity. If this large Erosion Swamp appeared after Sweet Edge disappeared, the timing would be too coincidental.
“What do you think?” Shu Jun had a rough guess.
“Sweet Edge might have been intentionally ‘left behind’.” Zhu Yanchen slid his fingers over the screen, connecting two pieces of data. “She’s powerful and has a strong obsession. Although the Erosion Swamp got her brain, it can’t completely control her consciousness.”
“I’m sure that after she destroyed X City, she stayed there of her own will.” Shu Jun wiped the toothpaste foam from his mouth. “But you’re right. It is a bit strange. If someone accidentally discovers her, the evolution of the Erosion Swamp will definitely be exposed. Even if she can hide herself, it’s still a potential problem.”
If there was an Erosion Swamp, assuming it existed, that was hiding behind Sweet Edge, then the situation was quite dangerous. Logically speaking, the later people discovered it, the easier it would evolve.
“This idea has a premise. If a sentient Erosion Swamp wanders alone, it is indeed the best strategy to drive away and expose its same kind.”
Zhu Yanchen pressed his thumb against his lips. His jet-black eyes shone in the screen’s faint light.
“But if they have already become accustomed to communicating with each other and have a certain degree of intelligence network, there is also a possibility of intentionally leaving her.”
Quickly catching on, Shu Jun said, “As bait?”
“Yes, as bait. Leave behind an ‘incomplete’ but strong enough Erosion Swamp not too far from humans. She can become an excellent beacon.”
They had discussed countless tactics together, and Shu Jun knew what Zhu Yanchen was going to say.
The highest-level Erosion Swamp was hiding in the distance, leaving some brainless companions around humans so that they naturally wouldn’t discover the truth. But as a cost, that advanced Erosion Swamp also found it difficult to obtain human intelligence.
From this perspective, Sweet Edge, who had a strong desire to attack, was indeed a suitable beacon. If she was defeated, there were only two possibilities: either humans acquired the ability to invade deeply into the erosion zone and discovered and defeated an advanced Erosion Swamp, or a more powerful sentient Erosion Swamp than Sweet Feng was generated nearby and needed to be cleaned up or roped in as soon as possible.
If she survived normally, the sentient high-level Erosion Swamp could continue to evolve and grow behind the scenes without worrying about the situation in the human cities, saving time and effort.
Shu Jun was dumbfounded.
…If he didn’t merge with the Erosion Swamp and only relied on his past combat experience, he would only think that Zhu Yanchen was a paranoid conspiracy theorist. Even as a “player” fighting against the Erosion Swamp, he could barely see this. How would normal humans view it? Shu Jun could easily guess.
Embracing such a ridiculous and terrifying conjecture and studying it alone, Shu Jun didn’t want to imagine that feeling.
“So you think the new Erosion Swamp near X City was deliberately released by a high level sentient Erosion Swamp?” Shu Jun seriously took over the conversation.
Since he couldn’t participate in Zhu Yanchen’s past research, it was best to follow the logical and reasonable discussion instead of emotionally questioning it.
“That’s right.” Seeing that Shu Jun was quickly catching on, Zhu Yan Chen looked slightly happy. “After all, Sweet Edge’s situation is special, and her disappearance may be a more extreme accident, but the accident will not happen twice in succession.”
“Whether it’s humans or a new Erosion Swamp that defeats her, as long as Sweet Edge is eliminated, it can confirm the existence of a ‘strong enemy’ and then consider countermeasures.”
“However, there is also the possibility of unexpected situations. You have to get a closer look to know. It seems like you’ve taken on the right mission, Chief Strategist.”
In order to have a serious discussion, Shu Jun went to rinse his mouth. He had been worried about getting toothpaste on Zhu Yanchen before, but now he felt refreshed and leaned closer. The numerical values on the screen weren’t large and kept flashing. Shu Jun leaned forward, pressing his bare chest onto Zhu Yanchen’s shoulder.
After waiting for five seconds without a response, Shu Jun realized that his Chief Strategist had frozen in his chair.
Oops.
Zhu Yanchen was introverted and usually serious, and he probably wouldn’t like intimate contact with people. Even if they were good friends, personal space should be respected.
“Oops, sorry, sorry. Let me put on a shirt first.” Shu Jun awkwardly straightened his waist.
Zhu Yanchen still didn’t respond while his gaze was still fixed on the screen with a blank expression. When Shu Jun came back dressed, Marshal Zhu had resumed drawing lines on the screen.
It was just the line had become more crooked than his previous ones.
It seemed that he needed to remember to maintain an appropriate distance in the future. Everything went as usual afterwards—they finished breakfast, went out to collect information, and looked for suitable supplies to replenish.
Just as the two were leaving the morning market, an accident occurred.
A mechanical arrow was shot from the dark at a tricky angle. Shu Jun didn’t have time to draw his sword, so he simply pulled Zhu Yanchen and held him in his arms. The arrow penetrated deeply into Shu Jun’s shoulder, and Shu Jun could hear the surrounding people gasping in shock.
“It’s coated with erosion substance!” someone exclaimed loudly. “Oh, this guy is done for.”
Shu Jun: “……” He only felt a bit itchy. The other party’s luck was truly terrible—for him, this was more like feeding the Erosion Swamp with fresh erosion substance than a sneaky assassination.
Zhu Yanchen reacted quickly. Although he was held down by Shu Jun’s hand on his neck, he kept his posture low and fired several shots in the direction of the arrow. The opponent screamed, and another wave of poison arrows was shot with obvious poor accuracy.
This time, Shu Jun had time to react. He let go of the hand holding Zhu Yanchen and swung his sword through the air, blocking all the poison arrows.
If he didn’t have to hide his identity as a player, a wind shield would have solved the problem. In order to play the role of a wounded soldier well, Shu Jun tried to swing his sword with difficulty, silently sighing inside.
Seeing that the attack was ineffective, the poison arrows stopped, and the attacker clearly wanted to run. Before Shu Jun could chase after him, Zhu Yanchen rushed out with a dark face. In the end, the user with the gun had the advantage. When Marshal Zhu came back, he was dragging two people—they were wearing protective clothing and hadn’t suffered fatal injuries from the bullets, but judging from their curled-up posture, some of their bones were probably broken.
“Peh.” One of them spat; his voice sounded a bit familiar.
Shu Jun felt Monday twist in his hand, as if it wanted to spit back. He quickly covered its mouth with a piece of cloth.
“I saw them during the test.” Even with a mask on, Zhu Yanchen still exuded a lot of cold air, and his voice was frosty. “They are the scums who stole their teammate’s equipment.”
“Don’t be polite, bro. I’m just giving you a little gift.” The man who kicked the woman looked at Shu Jun and spoke with a sinister tone. “Help send my regards to Yu Jin.”
If he were an ordinary person, the erosion substance would be enough to take half his life. Even if he continued the mission, his chances of survival would be greatly reduced. Shu Jun frowned—whether in the past or present, he hated those who harmed others for their own benefit.
“You can’t afford to provoke Yu Jin, so you target us?” Shu Jun sneered, squatting in front of one of the men.
Half of the morning market had come to see the bloodshed as the crowd gathered to watch the commotion.
“Who asked you to mess with the wrong person?” The man spat again as the audience grew. “Just consider yourselves unlucky. Anyway, the higher-ups don’t care about what happens here. You can’t kill people in the settlement. If you mess with us, The Old Fourth won’t let it go.”
“Lord Hou is here!” Someone outside shouted, as if to confirm his words. “The Old Fourth has arrived. Make way, make way!”
Shu Jun clicked his tongue. He and Zhu Yanchen had intended to make a name for themselves, but the reputation couldn’t be notorious. As the saying went, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Otherwise, they might end up eating a loss.
“What is the Old Fourth?” He murmured to Zhu Yanchen.
“There are three families associated with the United Government: the Zhu, Xia, and Tang families, but the resources of the United Government are limited, so they usually don’t deal with the borders of the erosion zone.” Zhu Yanchen stared at the mechanical arrow on Shu Jun’s shoulder. “The Old Fourth is a loose organization, considered to be the underground manager of this area.”
“The local boss, huh?” Shu Jun suddenly realized. “Ah, I hope we can reason with them.”
“It’ll be okay,” Zhu Yanchen whispered.
In the common knowledge of ordinary people, “The Old Fourth” was a mocking name relative to the three major families, but Zhu Yanchen was quite clear in his mind—
The Old Fourth was just the name on the surface. Among the lazy and unscrupulous core members of this loose organization, they referred to it as “The Fourth Squadron.”
For the remaining time, Shu Jun was a bit distracted. If it weren’t for Zhu Yanchen pulling him in time, he would have almost crashed into the wreckage of a billboard in front of him. Fortunately, Yu Jin was concentrating on searching for traces of the mutant beast and didn’t notice anything unusual.
The mutant beast wasn’t far from the three of them. When Shu Jun saw it, it was busy gnawing on the corpse of another mutant beast.
The thing was about the size of an elephant with a soft neck collar, making it look like a money bag with four legs. When it sensed someone approaching, it stopped eating and looked around warily.
Shu Jun took the initiative to go to the front of the team.
Yu Jin was a good companion, and Shu Jun didn’t want him to get hurt. On the other hand, he wanted to end this test early—this was probably the hundredth time he had glanced at Zhu Yanchen’s mask.
The facial features of the boy in his memory had a shadow of Zhu Yanchen. If the official information was correct, Zhu Yanchen was one year older than him, and their ages matched up. Seeing him once could be an accident, but now that Shu Jun had remembered it in a sober state, he couldn’t let this clue slip by.
“I’ll take a picture,” Shu Jun said to Yu Jin, who was thinking about tactics.
“No. You heard what those people said. This guy is dangerous. We need to set up a camera fishing rod and mix in some rotten meat…”
“I’ll disguise my scent. I hunted like this with A’Yan before.” Shu Jun didn’t joke around anymore, and his demeanor suddenly became fierce. “I’ll show you. Even if I fail, it won’t implicate you.”
Yu Jin was straightforward and didn’t hesitate at this point. He wiped the mud off his hands and said, “Alright, let’s see it.”
He watched as Shu Jun walked towards the mutant beast with light and agile steps. The mutant beast had its back to Shu Jun, and there was no sign of movement, as if the person behind it was a mass of air.
“Oh, it really can’t detect him?” He turned to Zhu Yanchen. “Your buddy didn’t put on anything that could cover his scent. How is he doing it?”
Zhu Yanchen suspected that the mutant beast was just scared out of its wits. After all, Shu Jun was accompanied by two Erosion Swamps. Even if Shu Jun wasn’t familiar with how to command them, Monday was.
At the moment, he could only make up some nonsense for Shu Jun. “His physique is special, giving him a faint scent.”
He couldn’t bring up the remedy again as it was already exaggerated enough that the two of them had “remedies” against corrosion—drawing too much attention would only cause trouble.
Dozens of steps away, Shu Jun sneaked up behind the mutant beast, snapping away with his camera. The mutant beast remained motionless throughout, not daring to move. Afterwards, Shu Jun made an OK gesture towards the two men, then “carefully” backed away.
Just as he returned to the team, the mutant beast began to move—it coughed wildly for a while, obviously choking on the food in its mouth.
“What a great move.” Yu Jin patted Shu Jun’s back. “Awesome, you can have my camera. After we pass the assessment, I’ll treat you guys to a meal at Longevity.”
Except for the small incident where the woman was cheated, the entire test went exceptionally smoothly. Seeing that the team leader was Yu Jin, the military didn’t raise any doubts and gave the three of them the number display device that represented passing—people in the settlement wore masks most of the time, and even if they didn’t, their appearance may change due to lesions within a few days. Previously, there had been incidents of imposters on a mission, so it was better to seal the deal after the assessment was over.
Shu Jun recognized this device, which was like an NPC’s name tag and would only activate after the mission officially started. He extended his wrist and let the staff fasten the last button. Now he was wearing the specially made monitoring device by Zhu Yanchen on one hand and the official display device on the other, which was symmetrically placed on left and right wrists, like a prisoner who had just escaped from jail.
“Gray Claw, you just need to add a chain and you’ll be all set, just like an old-fashioned shackle.”
Having easily passed the test, Yu Jin was in a great mood. He didn’t go home and directly took the two of them to the Longevity Tavern for dinner, ordering a table full of dishes. “It’s a pity that this time we only needed to take pictures and didn’t get to see Brother Smoke’s skills. What a shame.”
After taking a few bites of meat, Yu Jin downed half a bottle of wine and let out a deep sigh.
“It’s the first time I’ve led such an easy team, and it’s the first time I’ve basked in someone else’s glory. If you two plan to stay here, do you want to hang out… Bah, or want to be friends? Most people here will give me face, so you can get around easily.”
Shu Jun smiled. “We were counting on you to say that. Jin Ge, your name is quite interesting. Does it refer to tulips?”
When he said this, Yu Jin’s movements stopped in their tracks, and his smile faded. “Yeah, my mom likes that kind of flower… It’s strange how I keep thinking about the past today.”
“The past?” Shu Jun asked, leading the conversation.
Zhu Yanchen looked at Shu Jun, and his pace of picking up food slowed down. Shu Jun had his usual half mask, with only his chin visible, and his smile was quite sincere.
“Well, I often take NPC quests. It’s not a big deal, just that I don’t like the system. Today, when that incident with the woman happened and I saw that you guys were ready to take action, I felt like we would get along pretty well… What do you guys think?”
“We were doing odd jobs in the city before, and it was our first time in this line of work, so we were waiting for you to speak,” Shu Jun said with a smile.
“Yes.” Zhu Yanchen also spoke up. “I’m curious about your opinion too.”
Shu Jun looked at him quite unexpectedly.
“Normally, the city folks don’t care much. They only know the general idea and rarely see many players in normal times, so what do they know? Anyway, when the high ups are looking for guides, they tend to select from us, a bunch of vagrants.”
Talking about this topic, Yu Jin’s face darkened.
“Actually, I didn’t care before. I thought it was nothing major. They said it’s a technological product—the most advanced synthetic human, which sounded a lot like ‘the most advanced purifier’. My family was in the city before, and we only knew that the system was running normally, and our friends who were drafted didn’t have to suffer in the erosion zone—after all, if they forced you to go there, it’s not the same as going to the erosion zone to make a living on your own.”
“But you still went,” Shu Jun said.
Zhu Yanchen stopped eating, as if he had a hidden meaning behind his action. To prevent the situation from becoming awkward, Shu Jun picked up a bunch of meat and put it in Zhu Yanchen’s bowl. Zhu Yanchen paused for a moment, then started silently chewing on the stir-fried shredded pork.
“Even in an era of peace, jobs are limited, and people still have to earn a living. So, my family left the city to do business near a stronghold. Once, I got lost and my parents went to ask for help from the people at the stronghold. Usually, ordinary citizens who enter the erosion zone aren’t rescued, but at that time there happened to be a team of players who were practicing, so they made me into a target NPC.”
Yu Jin sounded quite emotional as he spoke.
“Then I thought—how should I put it—the higher-ups say that ‘players’ aren’t really humans. They’re just made to look like humans. But I looked carefully, and I didn’t really see much of a difference… Anyway, the point is, I was saved by synths. Humans aren’t beasts, so at least I should remember their kindness.”
‘No wonder he didn’t take the fixed NPC position,’ Shu Jun thought as he took a sip of his drink. If he became a fixed NPC, the pay would be good, but Yu Jin wouldn’t be able to choose NPC tasks based on his own will and would have to follow the official script.
The incident from back then did happen. That “thank you” from the chubby child seemed genuine now.
Shu Jun felt a little relieved.
“Have you told anyone else?” As the conversation deepened, Shu Jun was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to control his expression, so he grabbed a piece of chili pepper and chewed on it, causing his ears to turn red.
“I’ve definitely told others. I’m telling you two now, aren’t I? The problem is, even if I tell them, it’s useless. I remember someone else making a fuss before, but the higher-ups shut it down with one sentence: ‘Anyone who thinks this is inhumane can take the place of the synths.’ Normal humans can’t handle that kind of work for even a month, so who dares to make a fuss?”
“Moreover, only a few people actually make a fuss. Most people are busy trying to make a living and don’t care whether synthetic people are round or flat, and those are just ordinary folks. What about the higher-ups? They have all the resources in their hands and are focused on pulling votes and promoting development. Ordinary folks don’t care, so who’s going to waste their effort on this thankless task?”
Yu Jin became more and more depressed as he spoke.
“I’m just a small fry. I can’t make a difference. Instead of trying to make a splash, I might as well help them find a safer way. Oh, I was a little rude to you guys at first. Don’t take it to heart. I really value this job.”
“Of course.” Shu Jun raised his glass. “Here’s to a successful mission—cheers!”
After opening up, Yu Jin dragged the two of them to drink until late into the night. Shu Jun had been a veteran soldier for ten years and had plenty of combat topics to discuss. As Yu Jin drank happily, he almost wanted to become sworn brothers with Shu Jun on the spot.
Zhu Yanchen also drank, and through his goggles, his dark eyes were bottomless. Shu Jun could now read the expectation in his gaze, and he didn’t plan to avoid the issue.
As soon as the two of them returned to their hotel room, Shu Jun pulled down his face mask and stood in front of Zhu Yanchen, watching Marshal Zhu take off his mask with burning eyes. Under the influence of alcohol, Zhu Yanchen’s originally pale cheeks became slightly flushed, and the aura that kept people at a distance dissipated somewhat.
“I didn’t expect that the Grand Marshal was quite shy when he was a child.” Shu Jun got straight to the point. “Have we met before?”
Yu Jin provided a lot of information, indirectly confirming his memory. The sudden surge of memories wasn’t an illusion; it had really happened. If that child was indeed Zhu Yanchen, then the dream from that night was also a genuine memory, making things quite interesting.
Zhu Yanchen slowly placed his face mask on the table and didn’t deny it. “How much do you remember?”
“It seems we really know each other.” Shu Jun straightened his collar. “Are you the NPC who rushed out to help Xiao Yu during the mission to find Yu Jin?”
“Mm.”
“And you were the one who got lost in the virtual city in the middle of the night?”
“…Mm.”
“That’s all I remember.”
Zhu Yanchen’s eyes dimmed a bit.
Shu Jun was originally in a good mood after meeting Yu Jin, a normal old friend, who unexpectedly retrieved his memories. However, just as they started chatting, his heart began to sink into his stomach.
It was normal for people to forget the trivial matters of their childhood. However, Zhu Yanchen’s statement of “how much do you remember” was indeed strange. If Zhu Yanchen was absent from his past, the situation would be intriguing.
Shu Jun wiped his face with a damp towel, and the alcohol-induced haze in his mind dissipated somewhat. “It’s interesting. How was our relationship back then?”
“Very good,” Zhu Yanchen said.
As if he was afraid that Shu Jun would misunderstand his politeness, Marshal Shu added very solemnly, “Especially good.”
Shu Jun: “…” It was hard for him to imagine who Zhu Yanchen would have an “excellent relationship” with, let alone what he did when he was a child.
“Your memories can’t be fully restored in theory, but your physical condition has changed somewhat. The situation seems less absolute now. I can’t give you a comprehensive examination now, but this mission is an opportunity. There is a place in the city with relatively complete equipment. When the time comes…”
Zhu Yanchen, who rarely smiled, curled his lips slightly. “…I will introduce Ai Xiaoxiao to you personally.”
This was roughly what he guessed. Shu Jun raised his eyebrows—although he didn’t know how Zhu Yanchen got to “the other side”, based on the results, he, a synthetic human, became friends with the young master of the Zhu family. If the Zhu family found out about this, they were being polite by not getting rid of him.
Taking a step back, since humans could extract the truth from his mind, it wouldn’t be difficult to also extract Zhu Yanchen’s either. Their relationship had improved a lot now, so Zhu Yanchen had no reason to lie about this.
“Sure, I’ll definitely cooperate.” Shu Jun replied sincerely. “I really want to remember, especially how you went from that—”
He gestured to the height of a child in his memory.
“—to this.” He gestured again to Zhu Yanchen’s current height.
Zhu Yanchen: “…” The corners of his mouth returned to normal, with a hint of helplessness in his eyes.
To be honest, Shu Jun didn’t have much of a real feeling, with only two fragments in his mind. Knowing that Zhu Yanchen was his friend from the past, rather than an enemy or creditor, was enough at this stage. Their situation wouldn’t improve because of this, but compared to the tense reality, this was a good addition.
At least this could explain many things.
Shu Jun thought absent-mindedly as he took off his shirt.
At first, Zhu Yanchen was cold and distant towards him, but he became inexplicably close after his body recovered. Now, there was a reasonable explanation for that.
Since there was a successful case before, Marshal Zhu was afraid that they would become friends again before dying tragically and give unnecessary stimulation to this dangerous person. The subsequent ambiguous behavior was easier to analyze—they were originally friends, and those were probably just habits from their previous interaction.
Going back further, when “Smoke” took the initiative to talk to him, it might also have been an influence from the past.
Shu Jun had solved several daily mysteries, but he found that his emotions were even worse now—
Well, the evidence was conclusive. Zhu Yanchen subconsciously treated him like a brother. All of their previous interactions were just closeness between good friends. In the end, it was all because of that romantic seed that Shu Jun had sown, that he should have uprooted it long ago.
Shu Jun felt a little inexplicably blocked.
‘Don’t think about it,’ he warned himself seriously. He would just deal with Zhu Yanchen appropriately in the future. Maybe when all the dust settled, and he remembered everything, he could joke to this Grand Marshal—”Did you know that when we hadn’t met yet, I had a little crush on you.”
Then they could laugh together. What a nice picture that would be.
…But he felt even more blocked.
Zhu Yanchen’s ex-girlfriend, Miss Xia, was a beautiful and lovely young lady with a naive personality, which most definitely appealed to the straight male taste.
The human heart was strange. The more one tried not to think about something, the more the brain slid in that direction. Shu Jun simply threw his coat off and went into the bathroom. The cold water helped him calm down.
Meanwhile, Zhu Yanchen paced around the tea table in the room, unable to pour cold water over his head.
Shu Jun’s memories gradually began to resurface. From a cooperative perspective as well as a personal expectation, his wishes had been fulfilled. When Shu Jun remembered everything, their trust would become deeper, and their future plans could be implemented more smoothly.
But it’s not enough.
Zhu Yanchen thought blankly.
Not enough. Far from enough.
The author has something to say:
Shu Jun: Oh, so we’re bros. That’s fine. (disappointed)
Marshal Zhu: Aren’t we bros? What’s wrong with me? (disappointed)
They didn’t spend too much time on buying weapons—it was just for show, so they didn’t need to be too picky. The greatsword Monday was uniquely styled, while Marshal Zhu’s weapon was too advanced to be used directly, so they had to make do with something else.
Seeing that they were efficient, Uncle Xiong simply waited outside the store. After shopping, the three of them headed straight to Yu Jin’s residence.
Given how proactive Zhu Yanchen was and knowing the jargon of the settlement, Shu Jun subconsciously assumed that there was some connection between Yu Jin and Zhu Yanchen. But when they met the real person, he wasn’t so sure.
In appearance, Yu Jin and Zhu Yanchen were completely different people.
Yu Jin was slightly shorter than Shu Jun but had an unusually sturdy body, easily one and a half times Shu Jun’s width. His protective suit made of mutant beast skin was covered in bright patterns, and was bulging. Judging from his physique, there weren’t many signs of deformity.
He had a crew cut and his hair was dyed an eye-catching golden color. The skin around his left eye was flat indicating there was no eyeball. It was clear that Yu Jin cared about this defect, as he had tattooed the left half of his eye with patterns to make up for it. Unfortunately, the settlement’s tattooing skills weren’t that great. With the real eye and the fake eye so close together, there was a stiff and terrifying feeling, as if the left half of his face was made of paper.
There were four purifiers in the room and Yu Jin didn’t wear a mask. As the three of them entered, he was using his teeth to tear apart a braised chicken leg.
“Lao Xiong.” He lifted his greasy hand and greeted Uncle Xiong. “And who are these two?”
“Guests of my brother’s. They can outrun a Corpse Parasite. They’re interested in this NPC mission. Your last partner was quite useless. I’m introducing two reliable ones.” Uncle Xiong got straight to the point.
It seemed that both sides were trading favors, but Uncle Xiong didn’t dismiss them during their conversation, which could be considered fair dealing. Shu Jun shifted his gaze from Yu Jin and turned to Zhu Yanchen, who had returned to his usual statue-like state, showing no signs of recognition of an old acquaintance.
“The last guy could also outrun a Corpse Parasite, but when it came to the mission, that coward could do nothing but run. When he saw a dangerous mutant beast, he ran faster than a thief. ” Yu Jin spat out the hard bone and looked the two of them over. “These two are different. At least they have a good physique..”
Uncle Xiong was a master at sales and struck while the iron was hot. “Exactly. Hasn’t Lao Xu just received a large shipment of good skins today? My brother sold them, and these two brothers hunted them.”
Yu Jin finished the chicken leg and smiled wryly. “I don’t like to work with newbies, but since they’re friends of Pan Ge, I’ll give them face. Let me make it clear, those skins better not be stolen—when the time comes and you ruin the mission, I’ll shoot you both first.”
Then he turned to Uncle Xiong without any hesitation. “If they’re really reliable, I’ll give you an introduction fee when we’re done.”
“Hey, you’re really straightforward.” Uncle Xiong smiled widely as everything was settled.
If they were really new recruits, it could be considered finding a big thigh to hug, so it was hard to say anything. But in fact, they weren’t new recruits, which was even better—they had originally planned to pass the test while also disguising themselves. With an experienced teammate to draw attention, it was much easier to deceive.
Shu Jun looked at Yu Jin intentionally, and the vague familiarity grew stronger. But this person’s appearance was too flashy; if he had seen such an NPC before, he wouldn’t fail to have an impression.
How strange.
Until the test officially began, Shu Jun still couldn’t figure out where the familiarity came from.
The testing site was a wasteland right next to the settlement, with the remains of a small town that had been there for hundreds of years. The towering billboards were buried deep in the ground, with only the top edges visible. The electric wires on the poles were tangled together, clinging to the mud, like hair stuck to bathroom tiles. The exposed parts of the buildings were scattered about, with only some dilapidated walls leaning in various directions.
Most of the people were grouped into teams of three, with a few confused individuals wandering alone.
There weren’t many military personnel present, and they had set up a small tent against the wall. The test itself wasn’t complicated. The military released a high-level mutant beast, and each person was given a recording device. The more detailed the footage captured and the less injured they were, the higher the evaluation they would receive.
“Don’t even think about attacking. This test subject is quite brutal.” The invigilator’s expression was serious. “We’ve placed military purifiers nearby, and if necessary, we’ll escape back to base. As for whether you can make it back… You all should have signed a waiver. Since there are other mutant beasts nearby, we have put a fluorescent collar on the test subject’s neck, making it easy to identify. The test will last five hours, and you have to prepare your own weapons—the test starts now!”
People scattered around, but Yu Jin didn’t rush to run. He crouched down and began looking at the footprints on the ground.
“I’ll track it. You two handle the troublesome beasts. Can you do it?”
Shu Jun responded and drew out a makeshift greatsword. Zhu Yanchen looked in the direction of the military tent for a while before taking out his gun a few seconds later. Shu Jun skillfully swung the sword around, but the more he swung, the more he felt that the sword was awkward in his hands. He flipped the sword over and found that there was a large area of severe erosion on the back, which looked new and somewhat familiar.
Shu Jun poked at Monday, who was wrapped tightly in cloth. It was always together with his greatsword which he always carried on his back.
Monday sensed the tapping and lowered its voice, using a hissing sound. “Pfft…!”
Shu Jun: “…” It was clear that this thing was doing it on purpose.
Well, he could still make do with it. Shu Jun kept a straight face and turned the erosion part towards himself. With Yu Jin’s experienced nose, they didn’t encounter many dangerous mutant beasts along the way.
Shu Jun had thought that they could easily pass this small test, but as soon as they entered deep into the small town, things went wrong.
“Give it back to me!” A female voice screamed from not far away. “I took that shot!”
A woman leaned against a rusty billboard, covered in blood. Two men stood in front of her, with one holding a blood-stained recording device. All three were dressed similarly, clearly part of the same team.
“You’re already so injured, so you’re just dragging us down,” the man holding the device sneered. “What could we do?”
“Bullshit! You didn’t offer me any support at all!” The woman coughed up a mouthful of blood, gritting her teeth. “If we had stuck to the plan, I wouldn’t have… cough.” She broke off, clearly in pain. “We agreed on this before we started.”
“Look, you have to understand that if we get injured, our score will go down.” The other man sang with a red face*. “At least we didn’t just leave you to the beast, did we? How about this. If we all make it, we’ll give you 3% of our compensation.”
*One sings with a red face, the other with a white face (一个唱红脸一个唱白脸). Idiom referring to one person acting as the “bad guy” while the other acts as the “good guy” or the mediators (aka good cop, bad cop). || In this context, he’s acting as the “good cop”.
“Don’t waste your breath. Just find someone else to group up with. We just got our hands on one, and we still have to take more pictures.”
“Give it back to me!” The woman grabbed one of the men’s ankles and pulled him back, clearly desperate.
“What the fuck? Are you still not done?”
The man was about to kick her when both Shu Jun and Zhu Yanchen got ready to fight. However, someone else was quicker than them—Yu Jin was closest to the woman and grabbed a large stone, accurately hitting the man’s chest. The man stumbled back two steps and fell into the mud.
“I was just thinking, why are there so many useless NPCs in these missions lately, and now I know why.” Yu Jin snatched the recording device from the man’s hand and tossed it to the still-dazed woman. “To risk your life for a good score—even a pig would laugh at that.”
Then he sneered and kicked the man a couple more times. Seeing Yu Jin approach, the red-faced man had already disappeared without a trace.
“Sorry about that. I can’t stand this kind of bullshit.” Seeing that both Shu Jun and Zhu Yanchen were about to take action, Yu Jin’s attitude softened. “Let’s continue—continue… Gray Claw, what’s wrong?”
Shu Jun stood still. His vague memory gradually became clearer. Along with a slight headache, some images floated up from the depths of his mind.
[Are you Yu Jin? That’s a really interesting name. Does it refer to tulips*?]
*Clarity: Yu Jin’s name is (郁金) which is the first two characters of tulips (郁金香).
Before his eleventh birthday, he had gone on his first field mission. The mission was located near a stronghold, and the content was quite simple.
The mission required them to search for a boy who was lost on the edge of the erosion zone. They quickly found their target—a chubby boy covered in black mud, who only had a right eye. When they came to rescue him, he covered his left eye with his chubby hand, looking very resistant.
And so the above conversation took place.
Children were always innocent. Shu Jun brought the conversation back to the target’s name, and the team members began to chat about this interesting name, ignoring the nonexistent left eye. The chubby boy looked at himself for a moment, stood up obediently, and limped along with them.
This was just the most basic training mission, not even lasting two hours.
However, there was a problem on the return trip.
There was a clever little girl on the team who was a bit younger than the other members—just nine years old. Perhaps because her resistance to erosion was relatively low, her whole face had turned pale so she hurried back to the base. By now, they were quite close to the stronghold, and there would be no more mutant beasts nearby. After thinking for a moment, Shu Jun agreed to let her walk ahead.
Then she was attacked.
The attackers weren’t mutant beasts, but three kids around their own age—two boys and a girl. They were hiding behind a rock and had shot her with a small gun. Then they gathered around her as they fired several more shots, not aiming for her vitals, and let her struggle on the ground as if torturing a kitten.
The little girl was wearing protective gear, so the bullets didn’t penetrate her body. However, the impact was still quite scary, and she struggled in pain and couldn’t get up.
Shu Jun, who was far away, was unaware and didn’t arrive in time. But the girl later clearly recounted what those kids had said.
[You see, this girl is numbered K-786. The number is already up to K! Her ability must not be very good.]
[Are you sure nothing will happen?]
[Well, she’s young, so she won’t waste too many resources. They… Oh, no, I can’t say that. Anyway, if something happens, my family can afford it.]
[Wow, it’s the first time I’ve seen one.]
[You see, it’s not that big a deal up close. Even a girl like you dared to come out yet that loser from the Zhu family was against it. Speaking of which, where did he go? My mom asked me to take care of him for a bit, and if he gets into trouble, I’ll get scolded…]
[Didn’t you snatch his protective mask? He can only stay at the stronghold. Nothing will happen to him.]
[He’s such a wimp. He gets scared even when we’re talking about hunting. No wonder the leader doesn’t like him. I’m telling you. He’s the type of wimp who wouldn’t even step on an ant. Oh, do you want to try hitting its neck? I’ve heard that it might kill it.] The boy handed the gun to another boy.
[Huh? But, but it really looks like…]
[Looks “like” doesn’t mean it “is”. You said you could afford it, so let’s test it out. Then you can tell people about it. How cool is that?]
[Who pushed me?!]
When the sound of gunshots reached him, Shu Jun rushed over and saw the scene from afar—
Three children stood near the struggling girl, and a fourth child staggered towards them, pushing the others aside to help the girl up. He wore a full-face hood that clearly didn’t fit, with the seal not even properly closed, indicating that he had rushed over in a hurry.
The child didn’t have a number, so he should also be a member of the NPC. He awkwardly comforted the little girl, then put her arm on his shoulder, and walked towards the direction where Shu Jun was.
Shu Jun was too far away to hear the child’s voice, but he could hear the angry shouting of the boy with the gun.
[You told my parents? You traitor who tattles! Scumbag! Garbage! Are you even a man?!]
The boy threw the gun to the ground and picked up a stone, then started to hit the back of the hooded boy. The hooded boy was also wearing protective clothing, so these stones couldn’t hurt him, but he had to support the girl while also dealing with the heavy hood, so his balance was unstable. After taking a few hits on his back, the hooded boy fell to the ground.
[This is your own fault!] The boy with the gun yelled, clutching the stone tightly and preparing to throw it again.
Seeing that he was still some distance away, Shu Jun immediately fired his gun. At that time, they were still too young, and they didn’t have customized weapons—only a small self-defense pistol that was uniformly distributed. The bullet had little power, but it was enough to hit the stone accurately and send it flying. The boy with the gun’s hand was shaking with blood, and he screamed and ran away. The other two children followed him, and they ran away together.
The hooded boy was still lying in the mud, unable to get up.
Shu Jun walked over quickly and checked the injuries of the two people. His teammate was hit by the impact of the bullet and had a rib injury, but other than being a little frightened, there was no major harm. The hooded boy twisted his foot and couldn’t stand up.
[Go find a stretcher. She should lie down. I’ll carry this one.] Shu Jun pointed to the boy lying on the ground.
The hooded boy clutched his hood tightly, trying to stand up. But after a few tries, he just cried in pain. As he couldn’t successfully get up, he had to let Shu Jun carry him.
[Write this down in the report when you go back. We are not supposed to encounter random events until we are 13 years old. There was a problem with this mission arrangement.] Shu Jun calmly gave instructions. [You go first and take Xiao Yu back. She isn’t used to being outside.]
Yu Jin blinked his only right eye vigorously and walked to the girl’s stretcher while mumbling incoherently. [We, um, I… I should say thank you… um…]
He stammered for a while, but in the end, he got stuck and watched the stretcher being carried away.
[Does it still hurt?] Shu Jun felt the arm around his neck tighten and turned his head. [If it hurts, just say so.]
[……] The hooded boy suppressed his rapid breathing and remained silent.
It seemed like he wasn’t much of a talker. Shu Jun adjusted his posture so that the person behind him would be more comfortable. [It’s the first time I’ve encountered such an unexpected situation.]
[…But you did a good job.] The boy finally responded in a rather low voice. [I couldn’t even take her a few steps.]
[What are you talking about?] Shu Jun stopped in his tracks. [If you hadn’t bought us time, she would have been more seriously injured.]
[……] The boy remained silent.
[I’m not bragging. I’ve seen a lot of N… people in this world, and you’re the coolest person I’ve ever met!] Shu Jun said seriously. [Much cooler than those crazy guys. Have some confidence, okay?]
[……] The boy continued to remain silent.
They weren’t far from the stronghold and soon reached their destination. Several adult NPCs were waiting at the gate, likely to deal with the sudden incident. As they were about to enter, the boy tugged at Shu Jun’s clothes, indicating for him to put him down.
[Is someone coming to get you?] Shu Jun looked at the beautiful woman rushing over. [If someone is coming, then that’s fine. Be careful. I’ll put you down now.]
When the boy’s feet touched the ground, he let out a gasp. He swayed a bit and then leaned his head against Shu Jun’s body, causing the ill-fitting headgear to fall to the ground.
The boy was about the same age as Shu Jun, with handsome features and slightly long hair. He looked at Shu Jun with a nervous and cautious demeanor, as if not used to looking directly into someone’s eyes.
[Can I…] He glanced at the fallen headgear, struggling to speak. [Can I touch your gun?]
[Huh? Sure, go ahead.] Shu Jun generously took out his gun. The boy touched the gun through his gloves, with a complicated expression.
[Thank you.] He said softly after withdrawing his hand.
Shu Jun blinked. He had wanted to say a few more words, but the boy was immediately taken away by someone.
Compared to the farewells he made to his teammates one by one later on, this was a distant, small event. It was buried deep in his mind, as if it had never existed. However, for the present Shu Jun, it wasn’t just a simple memory.
He recognized that face.
On the day he defeated the Sweet Edge, he had seen that boy in that strange dream.
Luo Dan glanced at the empty vase without answering. Since he found out that Ai Xiaoxiao wasn’t his doctor, he closed his eyes and pretended to rest. Ai Xiaoxiao was too lazy to make fun of him, so she touched the wall a few more times, turned around, and left while humming a little tune.
As expected, just as the door closed, veins seeped out from the wall, and droplets of liquid fell once again.
“I…will…help…you…” Its voice was intermittent, like an old radio with poor reception.
The air became slightly sweet and pungent with pus, but Luo Duan didn’t respond to the invitation. He ignored it as if it were just a phantom. When the droplet saw that he wasn’t responding, it slowly retracted back into the ceiling, and the wall returned to its original state.
It didn’t leave and still lurked behind the wall as Luo Duan could still feel its breath. For the time being, it seemed that the thing didn’t intend to harm him, nor did it want to expose itself to people. Luo Duan decided to ignore it and see what it would do.
There was no such thing as a free lunch*, and even in his despair, he wouldn’t accept the support of a monster.
*Idiom referring to everything has a cost or trade-off, and nothing comes without effort or sacrifice.
Ai Xiaoxiao was unaware of what happened in the room. She left the ward in large strides and casually flipped through Luo Duan’s medical records.
All indicators were abnormal. This person’s body was on the verge of collapse. Some of his organs even showed signs of slight erosion. If Luo Duan failed to die on the battlefield in the next six months, he would only face even longer torment.
Ai Xiaoxiao chewed on her bubblegum and took out a tattered notebook to write down Luo Duan’s name and medical record number. When she arrived at her destination, she stuffed the notebook into her pocket before pushing open the door.
“Miss Ai.” The researcher inside the door nodded at her.
“Let’s get one thing straight, I won’t be here for too long.” Ai Xiaoxiao’s opening remarks were quite blunt. “I have a contract with Zhu Yanchen. When the time is up, I’ll leave… You guys will still be paid on time, right?”
The researcher’s expression twitched. “You don’t have to worry. Marshal Zhu has an account reserved.”
“Oh, good. Then let’s stick to what was agreed in the contract. After Zhu Yanchen’s death, I’ll be responsible for the maintenance of synthetic humans for a year. Even if the leader personally requests it, I won’t extend or shorten my working hours. The pay will be exactly what was agreed upon. You’re welcome to add a bonus to the remuneration, but there’s no way I’ll accept a deduction.”
Ai Xiaoxiao’s tone was quite indifferent. She counted on her fingers as she spoke.
“I won’t participate in your discussions, provide information about synthetic humans outside of my work scope, or accept treatment recommendations from the research institute. During this year, the relevant team must absolutely obey me, and I have the right to make personnel adjustments to my subordinates. That’s all. It’s all written in black and white. To prevent you from reneging, please sign in the ‘I Acknowledge’ section.”
The researcher took a deep breath as he felt a toothache. Despite Zhu Yanchen’s death there was still no peace—Dr. Ai’s greed and arrogance were well-known, yet Marshal Zhu had brought her on and thrust an aunt onto them.
If Zhu Yanchen were still alive, there would be room for negotiation. But with this contract, even Yi Ning couldn’t interfere. Ai Xiaoxiao was highly skilled and well-known in the civilian world. If she were forced out, not only would they offend the people, but the Zhu family wouldn’t let it go for fear of losing face.
Forget it. They had endured Zhu Yanchen for so many years, so enduring Ai Xiaoxiao wouldn’t be a problem.
“It’s not like it’s your money that was spent.” Ai Xiaoxiao saw the researcher hesitating and spoke up again. “Hurry up. I still have to clean up my new room.”
“Miss Ai, I’m a little curious. How did Marshal Zhu persuade you?”
The researcher quickly signed the contract and pushed it back. He couldn’t help but ask this question—Ai Xiaoxiao’s was notorious for her disobedience. The research institute had tried to hire her before, but they never even saw her shadow.
“Persuade?”
Ai Xiaoxiao stuffed the contract into her bag.
“I learned a lot from him, so this is considered a favor. You’ve worked with him for so long, yet you really haven’t noticed anything?… Tsk tsk, it seems that I was right not to join the research institute. I always felt that you guys had poor eyesight, but now it’s even worse than I imagined.”
With that, she left the researcher standing there, stunned, and walked straight out the door.
Researcher: “…”
He had heard that Ai Xiaoxiao was straightforward, but this sounded like she had a grudge against the research institute. Noticed anything about Zhu Yanchen? He thought of Marshal Zhu’s research reports that were off-topic and shook his head hard.
Forget it. Maybe Ai Xiaoxiao just didn’t like them, and her attitude problem wasn’t a big deal.
“Oh, and about your special ward.” Just a few steps out the door, Ai Xiaoxiao twisted back, and the researcher’s half-shaking head froze in mid-air. “It’s best to have someone test the concentration of erosion inside. The air in there doesn’t seem right.”
“We’ve installed military-grade purifiers at the entrance. An Erosion Swamp will never enter. It’s impossible to completely eliminate erosion as there’s a lot of erosion in the players’ bodies…”
“Testing won’t take much time, and I’m sure there’s a problem there.” She gritted her teeth. “If possible, please try to do it today—”
Her tone softened, as she had to use the word “please” for the first time, but unfortunately, the other party didn’t let her finish.
“That may have to wait until you take office and test it yourself. The special ward has an environmental test every month, and that’s the rule.” The researcher pulled out a polite smile. “Currently, you have no right to command us.”
Ai Xiaoxiao coldly shot a few glares and left with a flick of her sleeve.
Picking faults from the start and nitpicking about such trivial matters. He had at least gained a victory, and the researcher heaved a sigh of relief.
Ai Xiaoxiao arrived at her temporary residence and threw her bag onto the table. She had to admit that the quality of the room at the command center was quite good. The television in the room was also on, but unlike the special ward, her television was broadcasting a popular entertainment program.
It was Xia Liang’s tour. Xia Liang, the young miss of the Xia family, dressed elegantly and beautifully with exquisite makeup. She stood on the smoke-filled stage and sang soft, sentimental songs. Her voice was clear and pleasant, but unfortunately, Ai Xiaoxiao felt annoyed. She never liked young misses who were ignorant of the world, and even more so, she despised canaries that sang while treading on corpses*.
*Metaphor referring to someone who behaves in an insensitive or disrespectful manner, especially when it’s done in the context of someone’s misfortune or tragedy. || In this context, she showing her contempt that Xia Liang lives a comfortable life touring while ignorant of all the sacrifices and suffering from the people and “players”.
She turned off the TV aggressively.
Nothing was going smoothly.
Perhaps luck was such that it had its ups and downs. It was a great joy that Zhu Yanchen survived, but from then on—on the day the news of Zhu Yanchen’s death was released—she tried to contact Dong Lao, but he said that he could only meet her in at least a week.
There was no battle right now to command, so what was that old man doing?
As a result, Ai Xiaoxiao had to deal with the research institute first, which wasn’t a pleasant task. She detested it here to the bone and was too lazy to hide her emotions. She would definitely not have a good time here in the future. But…
Ai Xiaoxiao pulled out the contract and silently read the amount on it a few times, finally feeling a bit emotionally balanced.
It was almost time to meet Dong Lao, and she hoped that her luck would improve. After tidying up the room, Ai Xiaoxiao sat down on the bed. She fiddled with the cover of her notebook and began to ponder the possibility of secretly taking some equipment and inspecting the special ward.
Border settlement.
Shu Jun and Zhu Yanchen walked into the Longevity Tavern one after the other. Although it was called a tavern, it sold all kinds of things.
It was now breakfast time, and the tavern was bustling with people. Steaming baskets of buns and crispy fried dough sticks were displayed on wire racks. Small side dishes were neatly arranged on the table, with marinated meat soaked in thick sauce, filling the entire tavern with the fragrance of oil.
After selling the mutant beast skin and having some income, Shu Jun felt more carefree. He happily bought a lot of food and led Zhu Yanchen to a corner. However, they were still particularly eye-catching among the group of people, and the people didn’t even bother to hide their gazes.
One was a military leader and the other was a celebrity player so they had long been accustomed to this kind of scene. As usual, Zhu Yanchen pushed his mask down a bit and calmly drank his porridge. Shu Jun stretched out his claws and happily poked the bun skin.
Most people had a habit. If the person being observed avoided their gaze nervously, the observer’s interest would increase; but if the observed object remained indifferent, the observer’s enjoyment would be greatly reduced. People watched as the gray-haired youth finished a basket of buns and began to crunch on the fried dough sticks. Gradually, their attention returned to their breakfast.
“The fried dough sticks are pretty good.” Shu Jun took a big bite of the fried dough stick, leaving the other half, and gestured it in front of Zhu Yanchen. “These are a bit soft. I plan to go buy some more. Do you want one? Or do you not like things that are too oily—”
Zhu Yanchen naturally grabbed Shu Jun’s wrist and took a small bite of the fried dough sticks.
“It’s indeed a bit oily. No need. Just help me get another bowl of porridge,” he said.
Shu Jun glanced at where Zhu Yanchen had bitten, feeling a bit uncertain. Marshal Zhu’s actions were too straightforward that he couldn’t really tell if this was the practical style of a realist or if it had a hint of intimacy.
…Well, he could’ve just bitten the other end. That way, Shu Jun wouldn’t have to worry about this issue. He stuffed the fried dough stick into his mouth and looked deeply at Zhu Yanchen.
The latter was still drinking his porridge at a steady pace, expressionlessly.
Forget it. They were sleeping in the same bed. What did it matter? Shu Jun shook his head. “How about I get some steamed buns?”
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a sudden silence in the tavern. Shu Jun immediately shut his mouth and instinctively lowered his body.
“Listen up, everyone, there’s news! There’s news!” A thin man with shifty eyes slipped into the store. “The Blackbirds is recruiting three NPC guides. They’re leaving in five days. They’re going to the northwest of the ruins of X City. The work is tough so they want experienced hands that can pass three assessments!”
After that, the man swiped electronic money from the tavern owner and quickly ran away.
Shu Jun: “…”
He could understand the first part, but the latter half was complete gibberish. He was completely confused. Zhu Yanchen pointed to the rim of Shu Jun’s bowl with his chopsticks, pulling his attention back.
“Did you understand?” Amidst the clamor of discussion, Shu Jun lowered his voice. “What are the three assessments?”
“Good physical condition, recommended by someone, and willing to undergo a combat assessment for free.” Zhu Yanchen lowered his gaze. “In short, those who are too abnormal are not wanted, those without a local sponsor are not wanted, and those who cannot participate in combat are not wanted. This is the highest standard for recruiting people on the edge of society by the United Government.”
They didn’t have to worry about being abnormal or combat effectiveness, but as for sponsors…
“Oh, you two are here too?” A loud, sturdy voice rang out, and the two were slapped on their backs by a big hand the size of a cattail fan. Zhu Yanchen barely managed to maintain his composure, but Shu Jun almost choked on a bite of his steamed bun.
“Uncle Xiong.” Shu Jun wiped his chin. The other person wore a mask, but the two brown lumps on his head were easy to recognize.
“You call my brother Pan Ge but call me Uncle Xiong? Is that the correct way to address me?” Uncle Xiong grumbled unhappily. “Just call me Xiong Ge—what’s going on with you two? Want to try an NPC task?”
“Thinking about it. What about you, Xiong Ge?”
“Hey, my brother won’t let me go even if he dies. He says he’ll break my legs if I dare to go. This job is really dangerous. You two have to think carefully.” Uncle Xiong rubbed his nose. “But if you really want to go, I can introduce you to someone.”
“What do you mean?” Shu Jun immediately pulled up a chair for Uncle Xiong.
“I know the toughest guy around here. He’s done over a dozen NPC missions, and he’s still alive. Impressive, right? I heard before that they wanted to make him a fixed NPC, but he refused. He’s a real master… Of course, you two are masters too. So I thought, if you really want to go, my brother can vouch for you. Then you can just watch that guy and do whatever he does during the test. You’ll definitely pass.”
“His nickname is ‘One Eye’—his real name is Yu Jin—and he’s a big shot around here. We’re a bit friendly, so I can introduce you to him later.”
Yu Jin—the name sounded familiar to Shu Jun, but he couldn’t remember where he heard it from. He smiled and agreed, intending to continue chatting with Uncle Xiong, but he unintentionally looked over at Zhu Yanchen on the side.
Then Shu Jun forgot what he wanted to say.
Marshal Zhu was looking at him with unusual concentration. His gaze was quite complicated, mixed with restraint, nostalgia, and inexplicable expectation, as sharp as an icicle. Their eyes met head-on, and Zhu Yanchen didn’t look away. After a few seconds, Zhu Yanchen turned to Uncle Xiong and spoke up for the first time.
“Thank you. We’ll go buy weapons later, and please help us set up a meeting time…”
“…If possible, it would be best to meet today.”
The author has something to say:
Marshal Zhu: …The old way of getting along seems to have no effect, what should I do?
Shu Ge: Is he flirting with me, or is he really straightforward? Anyway, let’s focus on the important stuff first. We both have leftover feelings from our confession flags.
In the face of illness, any attempt to hold on was like a praying mantis trying to stop a moving car*.
*(螳臂当车) Idiom referring to a futile attempt to stop something much stronger or more powerful than oneself, akin to an insect trying to stop a vehicle.
Lin Chen no longer struggled. His breathing gradually stabilized, and the soft-packed saline water was injected into his body drop by drop. He seemed to have passed the most severe shock period, but Xing Conglian knew that the matter was far from over.
He brushed the wet locks of black hair on Lin Chen’s forehead with his hand, but Lin Chen didn’t even have the strength to react.
Duan Yang patted him on the shoulder and said calmly, “Captain Xing, please come out.”
Xing Conglian didn’t know whether this was a necessary ceremony that every patient’s family member had to go through. They could clearly speak in the ward, and, given Lin Chen’s condition, he wouldn’t even hear them. Yet, he must be called out by the doctor and, through a thin door panel, make decisions that would determine the life and death of the patient.
He and Duan Yang walked out the door numbly. Every step he took was like stepping into a winter’s night that only got colder.
The hatch closed gently.
The people waiting at the door also looked concerned. He had seen those familiar faces one by one, whether it was Wang Chao or Xiao Wu, Zhang Long or Kang An… Those subordinates and friends who had fought side by side with him now seemed meaningless to him, making him unable to feel any sense of affection.
Wang Chao cautiously called out to him. The expression on his face seemed to hope that he would bring some good news. Xing Conglian turned his gaze to Duan Yang, and the doctor shook his head.
Zhao Hu handed over a pack of cigarettes. “They have been notified, but Zaratul is crazy. The entire area west of the Xazi Mountains is blocked. Those who deliver medicine can only come from the seaside, and the fastest way is to go against the current. It will take a day and a night.”
Xing Conglian looked at the warning “Smoking is harmful to your health” on the cigarette pack and didn’t pick it up. He stretched out his other hand and cut the cigarette in advance. He saw Duan Yang’s calm and lifeless face.
The young doctor looked at the stern of the boat and then walked over to him.
Duan Yang had obviously never smoked a cigarette before, so when he walked to the stern of the boat with the cigarette, he only stood there awkwardly. Xing Conglian took out a lighter and threw it over.
The hot and humid wind blew across the young man’s face. Duan Yang trembled with both hands as he lit the cigarette. After taking only a puff, he choked and coughed violently. Xing Conglian didn’t care about him. He just stood there against the stern guardrail, letting Duan Yang kneel on the ground, coughing desperately as if he were crying.
Xing Conglian turned his head and looked at the constant green trees on both sides of the river. He suddenly realized that they were actually beasts cornered by this terrifying greenery, struggling to find a slim way out.
Duan Yang was quiet. Although he trembled all over, he covered his face from beginning to end, and not a single tear flowed. He was just immersed in deep pain and helpless confusion, and Xing Conglian knew this feeling very well, because he was now almost only one foot away from falling into the same abyss as Duan Yang.
Now, he really needed someone who could tell him clearly that Lin Chen could survive through this.
Even if someone opened a horoscope and told him that Lin Chen would be in danger today, he would definitely turn misfortune into good luck. He would take it as a lifeline, but it was a pity that there was no such thing. They could only get through it by themselves, and no one would help.
Half of the cigarette in Duan Yang’s hand burned, and the wind was strong, speeding up the burning of the second half.
Xing Conglian squatted down, took out a cigarette, and flicked it into the dirty river.
Duan Yang took his time to glance at him with only dead silence in his eyes.
“Duan Yang.” Xing Conglian spoke slowly, calling the young man’s name for the first time. “No matter what you want to say next, I can only say that I don’t want to give up yet, and neither does Lin Chen. Therefore, I won’t accept any verdict-like words. Can we still think of a solution…doctor?”
Duan Yang clung to the railing tightly. When he heard the word “doctor”, Duan Yang suddenly looked up at Xing Conglian. After calming his emotions, Duan Yang sobered up and spoke with extreme difficulty. “Consultant Lin’s allergic reaction is too serious. Using penicillin again will inevitably lead to a more serious acute shock than just now, and he will die immediately.”
“So now what?” Xing Conglian asked quietly.
“Now, I still have a small amount of erythromycin* available.” When Duan Yang said these words, he didn’t bring any hope, but a deep sense of despair.
*Antibiotic used for treatment of a number of bacterial infections. This includes respiratory tract infections, skin infections, chlamydia infections, pelvic inflammatory disease, and syphilis.
“Sounds pretty deadly,” Xing Conglian sneered then laughed.
“First of all, penicillin is almost always the best choice for sepsis. Erythromycin is generally only used as an adjuvant medicine, and the dose I have now is too small to reach the amount required for treatment. This is why I didn’t choose erythromycin in the first place.”
“Continue,” Xing Conglian said.
“Now, Consultant Lin’s immune response has been triggered. Almost all literature guidance will say that the medication should be stopped immediately and similar drugs should be avoided to prevent further serious immune chain reactions. And his case clearly states that he’s also allergic to erythromycin, which means that if I try to use the desensitization method I just mentioned to treat him with erythromycin, there is a high probability he will immediately go into acute shock and die…” Duan Yang paused and looked at him solemnly. “I’ve just used up the last dose of epinephrine. If he goes into acute shock again, I will definitely not be able to save him.”
Xing Conglian quietly listened to Duan Yang’s narration. The doctor told him the cruelest facts in the simplest and most understandable terms. He thought for a while and asked, “What if we don’t use antibiotics?”
“He’s already had the incision on his hand, and I’ll do a drainage procedure on it later. Without antibiotics, he might not make it through the day, unless a miracle happens. Of course, if your people can bring the medicine earlier…”
“There will be no miracles, right?” Xing Conglian asked as he looked at Duan Yang’s bloodshot eyes.
“Do you think I will still believe in such a thing?” Duan Yang asked rhetorically.
Xing Conglian couldn’t answer. He thought the decision was difficult before, but it turned out to be just the beginning. Now the question of choice had become: should he let Lin Chen die immediately, or watch him slowly die in front of him?
Seeing that he didn’t answer for a while, Duan Yang said, “I’ll ask Consultant Lin. I also need to respect the patient’s opinion…”
“No need,” Xing Conglian interrupted. “The choice is in my hands. Let’s try again.”
Duan Yang looked at him with deep shock. They all knew that whoever made the choice would have to take responsibility for the death and live with the heart-wrenching regret that may come in the future.
……
When Lin Chen regained some consciousness from his severe allergy, he felt that there was a lot of crowding around him.
It was strange that in the short period of time when he was in a coma or fell asleep just now, he didn’t dream and there were no chaotic visions of dead people. He seemed to just be a traveler after a long journey. He saw a very comfortable and soft bed at the end of the desert, so he laid down and took a nap for a while.
It wasn’t too hot or too cold around; just a little crowded.
He opened his eyes slightly and looked around him. He saw someone lying on the other side of his narrow hospital bed with his head resting on his hand. Naturally, it was Xing Conglian.
He glanced at the hanging IV bag. The remaining amount in the pack and the sky outside the window told him that the scene he had imagined of sleeping and waking up cured of his illness had not happened and that only a short amount of time had passed.
“When can you stop being so smart?” The low, hoarse voice of Xing Conglian came from his left. “I was even thinking of tricking you into thinking you were better just now.”
Lin Chen glanced at Xing Conglian, who was still lying carelessly, while he could only express his dissatisfaction with a very slight and almost imperceptible voice: “I am a patient…”
“I know.”
“You’re sleeping here…and I sleep…where?”
“In my arms.”
Before he could react, Xing Conglian turned around, gently grabbed his waist, and dragged him into his arms with an attitude that couldn’t be rejected.
Lin Chen subconsciously wanted to struggle, but Xing Conglian clung to him tightly. He leaned behind his ear and said only two words in an extremely cold tone, “Don’t move.”
Lin Chen shuddered and calmed down in Xing Conglian’s arms.
Xing Conglian really did what he said.
He still had his cold lips pressed behind Lin Chen’s ear, trying to talk to him. “Where did you pick up such a kid?”
Lin Chen thought for a while and asked him, “Duan Yang?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a long story…”
“I don’t really want to hear it either.”
The strange jealousy in his tone was quite cute. Lin Chen shrank into Xing Conglian’s arms a little more, recalling the things they experienced together, and said to Xing Conglian, “He’s very good, but… just unlucky.”
“His brain isn’t very good either.” Xing Conglian’s tone was obviously poor.
“Do you need me… to intercede for him?” Lin Chen asked tentatively.
“No.” Xing Conglian’s voice was extremely cold. “Consultant Lin, I think we really need to deepen our understanding. Please believe that no matter how good a person is, if you put the lives of others before your own safety next time, I’ll definitely lock you up in chains, and you’ll never have to think about walking out the door again.”
Lin Chen didn’t know why the topic had shifted back here again, but if there was really another time, that would be really nice, so he said, “Well… be sure to lock me up.”
“You can only be by my side.”
“Okay.”
He felt that if he were physically allowed, they would probably talk together for a long time like they used to, as if it would never end.
When Xing Conglian was talking, he kept kissing Lin Chen’s ear. When Lin Chen said “no”, he lightly bit his earlobe. Lin Chen felt his ears were hot and his whole body was numb, so that he couldn’t move any longer.
He blinked, but Xing Conglian’s embrace was too warm, making him want to sleep again.
At this moment, Xing Conglian spoke slowly, and Lin Chen knew the most critical part was coming.
But there was no seriousness in Xing Conglian’s voice. He just said lightly, “Duan Yang said that penicillin can no longer be used, so we have to try again. But the next drug may provoke a more serious immune response. Once the desensitization fails, you will die immediately. However, you have no choice. I will let him come in for the medicine later.”
Lin Chen was stunned for an instant. He didn’t know where Xing Conglian had the courage to make such a decision on his behalf. It was too difficult. His lips trembled, and he could hardly speak.
Xing Conglian’s hands around his waist were tight. He turned around with difficulty, trying to reach out to hug Xing Conglian, but the moment he raised his head, Xing Conglian’s kiss fell.
The back of his neck was gently hugged, and the man smelled of mint tobacco. His lips and teeth were clean and chilly, like the coldness of the forest.
However, the kiss was soft and warm, like feathers brushing across the water or grass soaking in the sun. Lin Chen thought of the daisies and geraniums on their balcony and the scene when the petals slowly unfolded when the sun rose.
Xing Conglian sucked his lips gently, without making any further aggressive movements. Because they were so close, their breaths entangled, and even their heartbeats were almost audible.
Finally, Xing Conglian let him go.
“Lin Chen, come with me.”
Xing Conglian’s voice was so calm and indifferent, as if he were just asking him what they were going to have for dinner tonight.
Stay with me, live with me, and die together.
Lin Chen looked at him quietly without shedding any tears.
Before he had time to put away the long needles around him, the transparent barrier between the red strings flickered. The huge “fish tank” divided the small space into two floors. The outside was the smelly, chaotic corpse cavity, but the inside was quiet.
In the chaotic shadows, the touch on the lips was extremely vivid. Yin Ren’s hot and humid breath rushed towards his face, immediately covering the rancid smell around him.
Should he attack? Stay away? Or…
Zhong Chengshuo felt as if countless small fireworks had exploded in his brain. It was like the light flick of a goldfish’s tail. The feeling wasn’t intense, but it lasted forever.
It was just lips meeting. In the past, Zhong Chengshuo didn’t understand this intimate way of “feeding organs sticking together*”. Now the burning heat of swallowing each other made him dizzy.
*It’s a euphemism for kissing. Feeding organs is referring to your mouth.
Seeing the two of them being sticky, the hazy black shadow on the phone made a weak grunt. Zhong Chengshuo naturally couldn’t see the changes on the phone, but he could hear the complaining “Woof woof”.
Zhong Chengshuo instantly recovered a bit of clarity.
“Mr. Lu… Just now… Um—”
No, the two strikes he made just now definitely weren’t enough to remove the negative effects. Yin Ren had just changed from an “irrational approach” to a “relatively restrained approach”.
Thus, Zhong Chengshuo tried to continue, “Tell me, Yin Ren. He just… Huh?!”
Yin Ren didn’t give him a chance to speak.
He didn’t close his eyes, so the pair of red pupils shimmered. He pressed his soft lips further, accompanied by slightly sharp teeth, giving Zhong Chengshuo a strange sensation. The tips of the teeth gently moved with just the right amount of pressure, bringing a slight sourness and softness. Strands of hair carefully surrounded Zhong Chengshuo as they swayed gently.
Yin Ren kissed awkwardly but firmly. His hands tightly hooked the nylon strap on Zhong Chengshuo’s chest.
The two maintained a seemingly uncomfortable distance, but Zhong Chengshuo no longer struggled. He raised his hand and slowly lowered it, then tentatively raised it again.
His fingertips pressed on Yin Ren’s shoulder, touching the fabric soaked in body heat, then they slid down to Yin Ren’s arm, probing back.
They slowly tightened and finally turned into an embrace.
Zhong Chengshuo tried to concentrate with his remaining rationality. He firmly gripped Dog Thing and continued the “attack” just now. This time, however, the “blade” slid against Yin Ren’s back.
It was like he was teasing but also dissecting.
In the world that was invisible to Zhong Chengshuo, the dark shadow on the phone tentatively squirmed, peeling off the “white monsters” on Yin Ren’s body little by little. Their fragments were as light as willow flakes, swaying and falling around the two of them.
The remaining little monsters may have noticed the existence of Dog Thing and retreated like the tide, beginning to crawl away from Yin Ren’s body.
The brilliance in Yin Ren’s eyes was returning, but his kiss didn’t become lighter but instead got heavier. Zhong Chengshuo’s lips felt some pain. His teeth were pried open, and the other party’s breath was pierced directly into him with a sweet, bloody aura.
A warm and lingering strange touch.
That weird alert reappeared, but he wanted to continue this hair-raising contact. Zhong Chengshuo took a compromising approach—he exerted force from his waist and legs, his arms twisted, and he pressed the Yin Ren to the ground, so that he could free himself at any time.
Under the light impact, the two of them knocked their teeth slightly, and the bloody aura became a bit stronger.
Amidst the faint blood, they kissed each other quietly and jerkily.
Zhong Chengshuo had never felt this way before. He even forgot the nature of the “ground” under him. His heart was beating wildly because of the tension, and his spirit was frozen on the feelings of his lips.
When Yin Ren pushed back, the sky spun around, and the two of them flipped. Zhong Chengshuo had his back on the ground, and he reflexively tried to get up, but black hair had wrapped around his ankles.
There weren’t many strands of hair, so he could tear them off by force, and there was an opening in the left side, so he could easily escape with some force.
However, Zhong Chengshuo didn’t move.
Every nerve of his was tense. Instinct prompted him to avoid. Curiosity forced him to continue. Attraction and vigilance, safety and danger, survival and death; the junction between them was so blurred and was twisted into a weird and strong excitement.
Yin Ren’s kiss gradually changed flavor.
The kiss slowly moved; first to his slightly cool lips, then to his chin.
At a certain moment, the heat on his cheeks suddenly disappeared. The evil tilted its head slightly; its warm breath flowing down his skin, and quickly stopped at Zhong Chengshuo’s throat.
Yin Ren’s sharp teeth gently pressed against the skin, making him feel a little itchy. The itching in his throat ignited his nerves and penetrated all the way into his bones.
Zhong Chengshuo’s mouth was finally free. He knew what he should say, but his vocal cords didn’t listen. All he could do was move his right hand and squeeze the back of Yin Ren’s neck, not too lightly nor heavily, with a bit of warning force.
As if awakened, Yin Ren’s biting abruptly stopped.
The tip of Yin Ren’s nose rubbed against Zhong Chengshuo’s Adam’s apple. His breathing completely stopped, but his heartbeat was too fast to be normal. In his dim vision, Zhong Chengshuo could only see Yin Ren’s black hair scattered all over the ground. Yin Ren’s grasp on him loosened, and there was a vague sound in his throat as if he were struggling.
Zhong Chengshuo pursed his lips instinctively and tasted the warm and slightly salty liquid.
There were no wounds on his lips. This was Yin Ren’s blood.
“Yin Ren.”
It was a pity that before he had time to continue, an excited voice exploded in his ears.
“Hey, hey, hey?” Lu Xiaohe cried happily. “Can you hear me? Can you hear me?”
Zhong Chengshuo sighed, continuing to let Yin Ren stick to his body. He just laid on the ground like this and replied solemnly, “I can.”
“Where’s Yin Ren?”
“Here, here.”
Yin Ren shook his head. He felt a little dizzy as he silently propped up his body.
He tied up his scattered hair, took Dog Thing from Zhong Chengshuo’s hand, and pinched Yellow Millet from the gap between the nylon straps—while the two had kissed passionately, this thing shrank itself into the size of a peanut, pretending to be air as it clung to the nylon belt buckle.
Lord Ghost King maintained the posture of sitting on Zhong Chengshuo’s waist and abdomen while holding his phone as he looked around.
“Ahhh… Don’t want to die… Ahhh…” The little monsters hugged the fragments of their bodies and huddled together on the edge of Zhong Chengshuo’s seal, tremblingly.
It seemed that it no longer had a desire to fight.
Yin Ren lowered his head and looked at Dog Thing again. The blurred black shadow on the phone had disappeared, and only [Evil Force, Evil Force, Evil Force] was frantically swiping on the screen.
He absent-mindedly replied, “Wait until we get home.”
“I rebuilt the contact line, hehe.” In the headset, Lu Xiaohe was completely unaware of the situation. Her joy was palpable. “When you’re active again, I can calculate the space map!”
“Okay.” Yin Ren coughed twice.
Zhong Chengshuo had been staring at the wound on his lower lip. Yin Ren hurriedly withdrew the blood and healed the wound.
Lu Xiaohe continued enthusiastically, “…The two of your reactions are too cold. Can’t you be happier? Speaking of Xiao Zhong, you should be able to guess the winning condition of this competition.”
Zhong Chengshuo finally looked away and glanced at the dark corpse cavity not far away. “Yes.”
In fact, Yin Ren also had a rough guess in his heart.
Shian threw them here by surprise without giving any background information or hints, which was typical of a skirmish arrangement.
There was only one way out of this “skirmish”, and that was to survive. Considering that Shian wouldn’t really kill them, as long as they could escape, the competition could end.
…But that was just the “end of the competition”.
“According to my guess, this is a free scoring competition. ‘Getting out’ is only considered a pass. There are other performance factors to consider, including—escape time, escape method, physical and mental condition, and any important performance.”
Just in case, Lu Xiaohe enthusiastically explained.
“The fewer the rules, the more things you need to judge for yourself. It’s best not to wander around like a headless fly. Even if there’s no monitoring here, basic location tracking and evil qi detection are indispensable.”
Making sure that those little monsters had no intention of approaching, Yin Ren put Dog Thing away. “We know.”
Zhong Chengshuo looked at him intently, to which Yin Ren tried to avoid his gaze for the first time.
It wasn’t like it was a big deal to sit on his lover’s stomach, since he did it all the time, but when Yin Ren tried to stand up, Zhong Chengshuo grabbed his wrist.
Zhong Chengshuo looked at Yin Ren persistently as he responded smoothly, “Lu Jie, give me your location. Let’s meet up.”
“No,” Lu Xiaohe answered crisply.
“As the rear commander, I have to give priority to collecting intelligence and directing combat forces to escape. If I run around, the efficiency will be seriously reduced… My guess is that if I escape first, my points will be deducted.”
Yin Ren hummed approvingly. Lu Xiaohe’s judgment was correct. She had no combat ability, and “prioritizing self-protection” and “supporting the combatants” should indeed be her priorities.
Just like now, “stand up from Zhong Chengshuo” was what he should be doing. Yin Ren shook the wrist that was grabbed by Zhong Chengshuo, but the man still held it tightly and insisted on using it as a cushion.
Zhong Chengshuo said, “Explore the surrounding situation first and contact us later.”
“Hey, hey. Wait a minute. We can still chat casually for a while—” Comrade Lu Xiaohe understood, but in this hellish place, it was good to have a living person to chat with.
“We need a ‘two-person world’,” Zhong Chengshuo replied solemnly.
“Xiao Zhong, do you know that Shian can also hear our communication?”
“Then Yin Ren and I have some personal issues that need to be dealt with.”
“…Okay, you guys deal with it first.” Lu Xiaohe squeezed out a response between her teeth.
She knew those two little rabbits… Those big brats were unreliable. Lu Xiaohe turned grief and anger into strength and began to search for Ge Tingting and Huang Jin, who were farther away.
And the two big brats were facing each other in a not-so-graceful posture.
“I should have picked a clean place to kiss you. I was wrong. I’m sorry,” Yin Ren said uncomfortably. “There’s also good news. Dog Thing is quite good, so those things won’t approach again.”
As for Zhong Chengshuo, Yin Ren suspected that even if this person was covered in layers of paste, his emotions probably wouldn’t be affected.
“The problem isn’t the kissing. I like your kiss very much.”
Zhong Chengshuo pointed to his throat, and there was still a light red mark on his skin.
“I just want to know, why did you bite me just now? Your state isn’t right.”
Yin Ren inwardly twisted.
If this was switched to someone else, he might be able to get away with this problem without getting caught. Unfortunately, Comrade Xiao Zhong didn’t know what euphemism was. After they started dating, instead of making progress, this person became even more candid, which was a bit scary.
“I just had the urge to ‘swallow you’.”
Yin Ren forced himself to withdraw his gaze and looked directly into Zhong Chengshuo’s eyes.
“Swallow you down and combine us into one so we’ll never have to separate again… It’s just a thought similar to a person being under the influence and ‘wanting to beat his boss’. I just took a bite, and I definitely don’t have any intention of putting it into practice!”
Lord Ghost King showed all his sincerity as he spoke at his fastest speed to explain.
However, it was similar to what he thought. In face of such a shocking statement, Zhong Chengshuo simply let out a sigh.
“Then why didn’t you bite all the way?” Zhong Chengshuo continued to ask with interest.
Yin Ren looked at this person in shock. “Don’t you think such a thought is too perverted? I definitely don’t really want to hurt you.”
Although he did feel that this impulse came a bit weird.
As a sunny and sound evil, Yin Ren had never had such thoughts before. When thinking about the difference in lifespan, he only thought about how to keep this person “scientifically”. Even if he was affected by deep “attachment”, he controlled it very well, turning the emotion that was magnified thousands of times into a kiss.
But not long ago, the moment he kissed Zhong Chengshuo, this aggressive thought came down from the sky and rolled around in Yin Ren’s mind.
“In other words, this is the first time you have the idea of ‘obviously like it but want to hurt me’.” Zhong Chengshuo objectively summarized, as if it wasn’t himself who was almost nibbled on.
“That being said…”
Yin Ren was a little confused. He didn’t understand what Zhong Chengshuo wanted to express. It seemed that his person didn’t plan to make trouble with him at this point, right?
“If such an idea appears in the future, can you tell me directly? Just treat it as an evil thing to observe.” Zhong Chengshuo loosened his grip on Yin Ren’s wrist.
Then he took out a hard-cover book and, in front of Yin Ren, wrote down several lines.
Yin Ren: “……”
Got it. So you created a special journal for observing biology, right?
But as the one who acted first, he couldn’t say a word of refusal.
After he finished writing, Zhong Chengshuo seemed to be aware of something and turned his gaze to Yin Ren again. “It’s okay. I really don’t mind… I’m going to release the spirit weapons. Are you sure you won’t get caught again?”
“Sure.” Yin Ren covered the surface of his body with a layer of evil qi that was almost solid, which could be considered an anti-monster cream.
With a bang, Zhong Chengshuo’s “sealed fish tank” shattered.
The white monsters saw that there was nothing to gain. Sobbing, they burrowed back into the carrion and ran away. Yin Ren scratched his head vigorously to calm down from his trance.
“Sorry, it seems like I need to be more serious.” He stretched his muscles.
It seemed that this game couldn’t be easily handled. Fu Xingchuan had thrown these weird techniques and unknown monsters in front of him, so he had to show a serious attitude. They would have to mix in with Shian in the future, so they obviously couldn’t be too lazy.
“Nn.”
Zhong Chengshuo nodded solemnly. His lips were slightly red and swollen. Coupled with that handsome and wistful face, there was a subtle attraction.
Yin Ren couldn’t help but take out Dog Thing again and took preventive measures by patting the dead corners of his T-shirt.
Just when the two of them had sorted out their clothes and were ready to leave—
“…Xiao Yin…” A dry and shocked voice floated out of the dark cavity. “You two… Why are you two…”
Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo: “……”
Oh right, Fierce Ghost Grandpa Lu was still there.
Lord Ghost King silently raised his hand and slowly covered his face.
……
It was rare that Wei Huaqian wasn’t in the dim underground headquarters of Sunken Society.
He was staying on the top floor of a luxury hotel in Haigu. The rooms here were famous for their excellent views. Looking out from the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, the central park in Haigu was lush and green, and the city was surrounded by mountains with gently undulating peaks. The Shian building stood not far away, like a nail that couldn’t be pounded in, which was a bit unsightly.
Wei Huaqian picked up a piece of stewed and soft fish lips and chewed absentmindedly.
His phone was on speaker and was placed on the edge of the table.
“…What I just said is exactly what Mr. Qiu meant.”
A gentle female voice echoed in the empty room, as standard as the customer service voice of a listed company.
Wei Huaqian didn’t answer immediately. He took out a napkin and wiped his mouth slowly, then swallowed a sip of wine. As soon as his Adam’s apple bobbed, it took a full half a minute before he spoke.
“What does Mr. Qiu mean?”
Wei Huaqian turned the glass of wine with his fingers.
“Shooting the Charon I want to cultivate is Mr. Qiu’s intention. It was Ms. Qi’s intention to destroy our research in Gengsheng Town. Twice—twice in a row—as ‘collaborators’, you have caused us extremely heavy losses.”
“Now there’s no shadow of the next Charon ability user and the research materials in Gengsheng Town are also cognitively polluted. We can’t make another imitation—isn’t this funny? As the leader of thousands of years of research, no one ever knows the name of the ‘Imitation’.”
The only good thing may be that this cognitive pollution applies equally to all beings. Sunken Society may not be able to read it, but that same applies to Shian as well… Mr. Qiu’s gang could provide a large number of sources of Evil Force, so it wasn’t surprising to have such special ability.
Unfortunately, Wei Huaqian wanted to be more cautious, but these guys went too far. Taking such a big loss and not saying a word wasn’t the style of Sunken Society.
After listening to what he said, there was no sound on the other side of the line. He couldn’t even hear the sound of breathing.
Wei Huaqian took another sip of wine, then spoke with a little more coldness in his voice.
“You provide stable Evil Force corruption, and we share the human data of those corrupted to you. This was supposed to be a fair trade, but now it seems that you have interfered too much.”
“…So this time, we came to greet you in advance.”
Ten seconds later, the woman on the other line spoke as if nothing had happened; her voice was still gentle like before.
“Mr. Qiu decided to test those two little people, and they happen to be the object of your attention. The fact that we informed you in advance is also a kind of sincerity on our side, don’t you think?”
We Huaqian looked at the sunny city outside the floor-to-ceiling window and snorted.
“You want to start with Zhong Chengshuo and Yin Ren…”
Now he could be sure that those two boys were definitely not so simple.
Those two had received a lot of “attention”, so Shian must be aware of this. The Haigu branch suddenly participated in a joint exercise competition, and the venue was at the Fu residence. Not to mention, the C-level investigation team didn’t even leave the yard of the Fu family.
That old weasel Fu Xingchuan most likely used the Corpse Cage inherited from the Fu family.
In this regard, Sunken Society had no choice but to quietly wait for the next opportunity.
This was almost a public statement—”Sunken Society has continued to keep an eye on those two, and it’s not just a momentary impulse. The purpose of the attention isn’t so urgent that we will take risks.” Even Fu Xingchuan should know these two points.
Wei Huaqian stared at the delicious soup in the exquisite porcelain bowl as the spoon stirred out sticky bubbles.
After they popped one by one, Wei Huaqian hummed.
“Your Mr. Qiu wants to play, and I can’t stop him, nor do I want to. We only have one request—when he’s ‘playing’, it’s best to show his name in disguise so as to save Shian the trouble of looking for us.”
It would be best if Shian could also catch these guys with some small clues. Wei Huaqian thought this maliciously despite being collaborators.
He had been curious about these strange “suppliers” for a long time.
“We will.” There was a hint of laughter in the gentle female voice. “This was originally our unilateral action.”
“I’m still a little curious, and I hope you can answer,” Wei Huaqian said.
“How do you plan to break through the ‘Corpse Cage’? Given Shian’s personality, the Corpse Cage will definitely be placed in a closed underground room, with several experts guarding it. Not to mention the Fu family itself has various protection techniques that have been passed down for thousands of years, including the immortal old man Fu Wuya sitting in command.”
For generations, the Fu family had sat on the top levels of Huajisi, and their status in the metaphysical world wasn’t low. The Fu residence could be considered the alternate headquarters. For thousands of years, Sunken Society had used countless means but failed to penetrate it. In modern times, Sunken Society gave up on this hard-to-chew bone.
To break through the defense of the Fu family, one would need a Charon ability user who could shuttle through space, which the mysterious “supplier” might possess. Together with those unknown sources of Evil Force pollution, the opportunity was quite tempting.
If these people were restrained by Shian and revealed their true colors, there was no telling how much Sunken Society would be able to swallow up…
“Hehe, trade secrets.”
The gentle female voice responded; the smile in her tone was obvious this time.
“Like you said, this is a fair deal. Please don’t interfere too much, Mr. Wei.”
The call hung up.
Wei Huaqian sneered and flipped his phone over. He pulled out the laptop that was placed on the table and clicked into a certain folder. Inside were photos of Zhong Chengshuo and Yin Ren, tightly packed.
“Okay.”
He looked at them for a moment and narrowed his eyes.
On the screen was a photo of Zhong Chengshuo and Yin Ren. When they were photographed, the two of them were shopping and eating at the night market. Yin Ren was stuffing a spoonful of coconut jelly into Zhong Chengshuo’s mouth while half a spoon was in his mouth.
The surveillance was too far away, so the picture was blurry, but it couldn’t cover the intimacy between the two of them.
Wei Huaqian’s wrinkled fingers tapped on the screen and scratched around the two men’s brows.
“Is this a ‘romantic relationship’? That’s a pleasant surprise… I hope Mr. Qiu can drive them crazy. The crazier, the better.”
……
“I’m really going crazy,” Yin Ren said.
It was past 1 p.m. and he hadn’t eaten lunch yet.
Even a Ghost King had no habit of eating human carrion. After wiping his hand thoroughly with alcohol, Zhong Chengshuo chewed on a compressed biscuit as if nothing had happened, with the aura of eating a regular diet even at the end of the world.
But Yin Ren didn’t want to eat that kind of dry stuff. He held his beloved chocolate chip package and didn’t know whether to open it or not.
He also didn’t want his previous memories to be tarnished by the rancid smell.
Especially after they had passed the fifth hurdles of beetle and the six general of maggots, Yin Ren decided to keep his mouth shut and maintain the noble character that a ferocious evil should have–the Resentment Basket could be eaten, and bad tributes as well, but not bugs; absolutely not.
“Is the map still not ready?” Yin Ren asked Lu Xiaohe pitifully.
“You two are done with your own world” Lu Xiaohe dragged her tone.
Yin Ren: “It’s still not finished. It’s going to take years.”
Lu Xiaohe: “……”
Mental abuse on teammates was prohibited.
She coughed frantically. “I was dropped in the lungs, and you guys are near the heart. As long as you move in a general direction, you should be able to enter the esophagus smoothly.”
There was another clacking of keyboard sound in the headset.
“I just confirmed the location of Huang Jin and Ge Tingting. The two of them ran near the kidney, and there are other Shian signals around them. They’re probably acting with people from other branches and want to escape from here. Theoretically, it’s faster going through the intestines…”
Yin Ren sympathized with the two in his heart for a few seconds.
“The specific situation is sent to your phone,” Lu Xiaohe said. “I’m going to enjoy my one-person world. Bye bye.”
She hung up the call aggressively.
Yin Ren laughed. In such a weird and terrifying environment, Lu Xiaohe could still maintain a relaxed conversation state. It had to be said that this young girl had astounding potential as the rear commander.
“Ahhhh… wuwu…”
Not far away, there was another low whimper.
Again? Yin Ren added several layers of thick evil qi to his body.
This time, Zhong Chengshuo also stopped.
“Someone is crying,” he said firmly, with a hint of excitement on his face.
The corner of Yin Ren’s mouth twitched.
“Someone crying in the wilderness” and “Someone crying inside a carrion” were completely strange in two orders of magnitude. Seeing Zhong Chengshuo’s subconscious reaction, this person really didn’t feel any fear at all.
“Wuwu…. Wuwu…”
The faint crying continued, and there were more little white monsters nearby. Yin Ren had already sent Lu Tanfei away, so he used a levitation spell and moved together with Zhong Chengshuo.
“Wuwu… I want to go home. I miss my parents…” A somewhat hoarse female voice sobbed. “Luoluo, can we stop comparing? I’m so homesick…”
“Come on, have another bite! Mmm. It’s very good!” Another energetic female voice encouraged. “When we run out, you can ask for leave to go home to see your parents and I’ll go with you—”
“Mm… I want to go home… I really want to go home…”
Yin Ren made a gesture to Zhong Chengshuo and floated around the corner like a ghost.
Not far away, in the empty meat cavity, Luo Wanxiang and Sang Jie were waiting. Several mechanical rods surrounded a tight laser net, and the two girls were eating lunch inside.
To be precise, it was Lu Wanxiang who was feeding Sang Jie. Although the latter was full of tears, she didn’t stop waving the bone staff in her hand. Behind the two girls, about six fierce ghosts were brutally attacking the Yandu group without mercy.
There were also many white monsters lying on Sang Jie’s traditional outfit. She probably took some remedial measures, as there weren’t too many monsters that gathered on her body.
However, the price wasn’t small. Their faces were covered in grime, and they looked quite tired. Judging by the number of insect corpses nearby, they should have been trapped here for a while.
Yin Ren shrank his head—it seemed that everyone’s performance of being crushed by “attachment” was different. Sang Jie’s performance was “extremely negative”. In comparison, his reaction of “gnawing on Zhong Chengshuo” seemed quite alright.
For now, “not being favored by the white monsters” wasn’t entirely due to Zhong Chengshuo’s physical condition. The impact on the science post was indeed smaller.
“Hey, there’s a Shian signal response near you. They are probably people from the other branches.”
Lu Xiaohe’s vague voice suddenly came out. She had taken advantage of carrying a large luggage and was able to bring many things. It sounded like she was chewing on some delicious meat products.
“I don’t know the specific situation. It’s up to you to judge whether you want to act together or not.”
Yin Ren turned his head knowingly. “Zhong…”
Zhong Chengshuo was floating crossed-legged, folding the empty compressed biscuit bag into small pieces. He ignored the fact that he was inside a corpse and took out a small bag with “trash” printed on it, carefully packing the trash and putting it back into his backpack. His posture was so upright that he looked like a primary school student on a spring outing.
Yin Ren cleared his throat amusingly. “Do you want to act together?”
“What do you think?” Zhong Chengshuo asked a little jerkily.
They were in an advantageous situation, and acting together wasn’t much different from “rescuing your opponent”. Logically speaking, this may score them points, and they may lose points for “not actively cooperating”.
There were pros and cons, so it was difficult to choose. Out of confidentiality considerations, Zhong Chengshuo would mercilessly choose to act alone, but…
“Let’s go together,” Yin Ren whispered. “If it’s really a skirmish, it’s never wrong to unite all fighting forces.”
“And they all have very strong combat capabilities. If I put in more effort, you can use this to conserve your strength.”
Seeing Zhong Chengshuo’s surprised expression, Yin Ren was also shocked. “You haven’t thought you can be lazy, have you?”
“Nn.” King Yama, who was used to acting alone, hesitated for a while and slowly turned his head.
Yin Ren’s expression twisted for a bit before settling on a “disappointed” look.
Click.
While the two of them were fooling around, there was a very light sound in the shadows.
Yin Ren grabbed Zhong Chengshuo and flew up abruptly. A cobweb-like white net exploded nearby, and a small mechanical ball spun rapidly, with a small red light flashing in the darkness.
“Which branch’s friend? Eavesdropping isn’t good behavior. Warning! Warning!”
A rigid mechanical sound came from the small ball.
Despite their efforts to suppress their aura, they were still discovered? Yin Ren cleared his throat, intending to speak up…
“Meow meow meow!!!” There was a sharp cat cry full of displeasure that came from the net. “What the hell. My fur is all dirty—!”
Yin Ren slowly shifted his gaze and spotted Dr. Cat struggling frantically within the net. The cat was making human-like sounds and clawing at the net with all its might. To be honest, Machinist Luo Wanxiang didn’t use too much force when setting up the net, so it wasn’t really a threat to humans. However, for a cat, the difficulty was on another level.
Luo Wanxiang obviously realized this too, so she hurriedly got up to make amends.
Before her hand could touch Dr. Cat, the black cat was picked up by the nape of its neck and held in his hand.
“Miss Luo, Miss Sang Jie, and Mr. Meiqiu.”
Yin Ren smiled and removed the net from the black cat.
The young Zhong Chengshuo was lying in front of the fish tank, staring at the goldfish sinking to the bottom. Its tail had a beautiful arc that scattered in the water like a red veil. Through the cold glass, it seemed to be floating in another world.
It was dying.
He didn’t know why it didn’t eat much. Zhong Chengshuo watched as it weakened little by little, and its dull fish eyes stared at the outside world without blinking, avoiding his gaze.
In the round fish tank, the beautiful tail slowly loosened. Zhong Chengshuo stretched out his hand and lightly touched the surface of the water. He thought for a while, then drew his hand back again.
There was nothing he could do.
His adoptive parents were busy and wouldn’t have time to accompany him to see a vet for the goldfish.
This goldfish didn’t show any typical symptoms; it just went on a hunger strike for no reason. They hadn’t kept it for long, so there weren’t any deep feelings for it. Even if they took it to the hospital, the cost of seeing a vet wasn’t as good as just buying another one.
The fish had no expression and wouldn’t make noise. Zhong Chengshuo liked it, which meant he didn’t have to worry about reacting to the goldfish. If possible, he hoped it could live a little longer.
But if it couldn’t, it didn’t matter.
He stared at the fish quietly, watching it die. At the end of countless inferences, its fate was already predetermined.
‘This was the “most reasonable” development,’ Zhong Chengshuo thought calmly.
In the end, Zhong Chengshuo grabbed the beautiful tail and threw the fish in the trash can. It was colder than when it was alive.
The lid of the trash can closed, and it was filled with odor and darkness, just like at this moment…
Zhong Chengshuo threw out more than a dozen fine needles again. This was his last inventory—since this was an official competition of Shian, he didn’t bring the Evil Fruit, and he didn’t carry any high-end spirit weapons with him.
He only brought some medium-sized goods for defense.
The thin needles stacked on the first wave of long red threads. The gaps between the red threads began to slowly produce transparent diaphragms, which intersected and fused with each other, with a texture somewhat like glass.
In the corrupted, dark flesh cavity, a deformed, rough “glass fish tank” appeared.
Watching the battle, Lu Tanfei let out a “huh”—this time it wasn’t just the evil qi that was sealed, but the little monsters whispering outside could no longer enter the internal space. The two of them were completely isolated from the world, and their aura seemed to have disappeared.
“Xiao Zhong, why are you locking yourself in?” Lu Tanfei said anxiously. “It’s hard to…”
“I can’t stop Yin Ren. Right now, Yin Ren is interested in me, so he won’t run around.”
Zhong Chengshuo took out a lighter from his pocket and clicked it. Cyan flame jumped in the darkness.
As the flame waved and shook, the spirit weapon needles moved at the sound, and the red ropes intertwined again. This time, they returned to their respective positions, and the “glass fish tank” became incomparably neat, as if it had obviously been calculated with precision.
The cyan firelight was reflected in Yin Ren’s red eyes, turning into a little shimmer.
“Ah……”
Yin Ren let out a long sigh from his throat.
His head wasn’t a mess, but the attachment was so huge that he couldn’t think smoothly.
In the Archive, he used his mental strength to resist the corruption of the Evil Force… However, this time, the abnormality broke out precisely inside his mind, and it was the first time he had dealt with this situation.
No wonder this kind of underworld competition venue was created… No wonder all the “No. 1’s” of Shian’s three occupations were present… This kid, Fu Xingchuan, was quite tough…
Yin Ren desperately wanted to stop, but his legs automatically walked towards Zhong Chengshuo.
One step, then another.
His “attachment” to Zhong Chengshuo had magnified hundreds of times, and the other party’s vivid state made him unable to look away. Just as a person who was about to die of thirst saw water or a person who hadn’t slept for five nights saw a bed, it was an irresistible desire.
Fortunately, no matter how crazy Fu Xingchuan was, he wouldn’t let his own residence blow up… The space here was distorted, which provided a natural protective barrier, so the Evil Force had little impact on the outside world. Minister Fu probably had backup…
Zhong Chengshuo’s head was always clear. If he sensed any risks, he would surely escape…
Immediately afterwards, Yin Ren saw the cyan light of fire, as well as the three-dimensional seal array all around.
Zhong Chengshuo also sealed himself inside the array.
Lord Ghost King’s trance was instantly dispersed by several points. This was the second time that the smart person chose the dumbest path.
Didn’t you say, “I don’t know what to do”?!
The soft white “hyphae” stretched into Yin Ren’s eyes, nose, ears, and mouth, bringing agitation from his heart. Yin Ren forcibly stretched out his hair strands so that they wouldn’t entangle Zhong Chengshuo’s legs. The desire to be close and the idea of protection entangled each other, causing Yin Ren’s vision to blur.
“You can get close to me.” In the dimness, he heard Zhong Chengshuo say.
“No… No…”
Under the huge emotional coercion, his body had long been numb, and he couldn’t control his strength. Even a hug may seriously hurt Zhong Chengshuo.
“You need to vent your emotions.” The cyan light went out as Zhong Chengshuo’s voice echoed in the darkness. “Compared to simply suppressing, you can let go.”
“I… don’t want to…” Yin Ren was still struggling.
Zhong Chengshuo didn’t know how to conceal his concern. This person’s awkwardness had the opposite effect, only causing Yin Ren’s attachment to grow wildly like weeds. A lively person, an unpredictable person, so clumsy and cute… He wanted to keep him forever…
Yin Ren bit his lip. In the dull pain, he stopped the thoughts that were gradually getting out of control.
“It’s okay. I won’t be caught by you. It’s just a normal fight—fighting is the best way to vent.”
Zhong Chengshuo even took a bold step forward.
A surge of hope suddenly rose in Yin Ren’s heart, and he forcibly held onto the burning and chaotic emotions. “Do you have a solution…?”
“No!” Zhong Chengshuo turned on the lights and declared, “We’ll figure it out as we go along.”
Yin Ren: “……” Wow. It’s the familiar behavior of Zhong Chengshuo. At this moment, he really wanted to fight with him.
As the thought crossed his mind, his thinking became clear for a moment. Yin Ren hugged his trace of clarity and let go of the suppression on his legs.
He pounced at Zhong Chengshuo like a leopard.
The latter didn’t use the chain, but strangely flew in place and floated in the air. “Puff puff puff.” Muttering complaints came from behind Zhong Chengshuo—
Yellow Millet, the great Class A-A evil, shrank itself into the size of a backpack at this moment and was tightly bound behind Zhong Chengshuo’s nylon belt. It flew quickly with Zhong Chengshuo and continued to mount in disguise.
Yellow Millet couldn’t suppress Yin Ren, but facing a Ghost King who hadn’t used his full strength, it could still temporarily hide.
The distorted emotions instantly had an outlet.
Yin Ren no longer suppressed his emotions and was immediately relieved. He stepped on the corpse and bounced straight to Zhong Chengshuo.
The latter smiled and passed him again. The two drew fuzzy afterimages in the narrow seal. The two afterimages entangled with each other, almost winding into a ball of thread, but never intersecting.
Lu Tanfei was stunned.
Forget about Yin Ren, but was Zhong Chengshuo really a normal human?
At this speed, humans theoretically couldn’t see anything clearly, let alone react, but Zhong Chengshuo not only reacted in place but even paused from time to time, as if observing something.
Yin Ren’s fingers slid over the fabric around Zhong Chengshuo’s waist, and he flipped while flying at high speed. Zhong Chengshuo flew past him, sticking close to his ear, and the warm breath brushed against Yin Ren’s earlobe.
Zhong Chengshuo’s lower lip grazed over Yin Ren’s hair tips. He gathered his body and swam like a fish in the darkness. When the distance was close enough, he could even feel Yin Ren’s heartbeat—even though it was a corrupt object tainted with death, that lively heartbeat felt like it was pounding in his own chest.
Zhong Chengshuo let go of the baton, and the heavy metal slammed to the ground. He pulled out a few talismans from his pockets to suppress the power of the Evil Force and familiarly clamped the talisman between his fingers.
In the shadows, they were like two fish entangled together. Zhong Chengshuo passed by his side again, and Yin Ren abruptly felt a trace of clarity…
There was an extra talisman posted on his neck to suppress his Evil Force!
Zhong Chengshuo was slowly reducing his mental pressure little by little and freeing up his energy.
Wrists, collarbone, exposed waist.
The warm and moist paper was tightly attached to his skin, like someone’s palm, pushing away those annoying attachments. This was indeed not a solution, and Yin Ren tried to concentrate—this wasn’t “yet” the solution, but…
But as an “accomplice”, they should think together.
They would write down the answers together.
“Zhong Ge… come a few more times.” His voice was almost blown away by the fast-moving wind.
Zhong Chengshuo undoubtedly heard what he said.
“Dog Thing, bite!”
Zhong Chengshuo flew over again. His command was ringing in Yin Ren’s ear.
Zhong Chengshuo opened his eyes slightly. He instantly took off Dog Thing stuck on Yin Ren’s nylon belt, only to see its response viciously bounce on the screen.
[Siren: That’s a weak that I can’t eat!!!]
Zhong Chengshuo said sincerely, “It said those things can’t be eaten.”
“Can’t eat or bite?” Yin Ren hummed with difficulty.
As the same kind, since these weak strange things could survive in this place, so can Dog Thing. Zhong Chengshuo couldn’t see them, but Dog Thing could.
“I’ll give you Evil Force. Hurry up…”
“Woof woof!” Dog Thing barked weakly.
Zhong Chengshuo’s eyes lit up as he gripped Dog Thing like a dagger in his hand and stabbed straight towards Yin Ren. Yin Ren broke through the airflow and, in the almost uncontrollable sticky attachment, opened his arms towards the other.
“Ah… Ah… I don’t want to die…”
The white monster almost covered Yin Ren’s body, and those bud-like eyes kept dropping liquid. Those transparent liquids washed away the dirt brought by the corpse, making it seem like Yin Ren’s body had an extra layer of weird white gauze.
“…I don’t want to part… I don’t want to part…”
Unfortunately, these prayers couldn’t reach Zhong Chengshuo’s ears.
He rushed straight to Yin Ren with an imperative momentum.
With a wave of his right hand, a translucent black shadow appeared from the phone. It bit the monster on Yin Ren’s shoulder with one bite, and after the sound of silk tearing, a large piece of the thick “white monster” on Yin Ren’s shoulder was missing.
They made a sound that was close to sobbing.
“No… No… Don’t…”
“I don’t want to die…”
With tactile feedback of Dog Thing, it was as if Zhong Chengshuo could see those monsters. His hand quickly slashed along Yin Ren’s shoulders to his chest, breaking away most of the white monsters. Yin Ren seemed as if he were peeling off the lower half of his white robe.
The black thing on the phone spat out monster fragments, making exaggerated retching sounds from time to time.
Half of the monsters on his body were lifted off, and Yin Ren was able to finally breathe smoothly.
Seeing that those red eyes had some focus, Zhong Chengshuo slowly breathed a sigh of relief, and for the first time, he slowed down his flight speed. The clothes on his back were already drenched in sweat. However, before Zhong Chengshuo could speak, one hand suddenly grabbed the nylon strap on his chest.
“Yin…?”
Countless strands of hair gently gathered together and hooked Zhong Chengshuo’s waist. Yin Ren’s entire body was close as he pressed the back of Zhong Chengshuo’s head with force.
Zhong Chengshuo’s eyes widened in surprise…
Unlike that firm strength, Yin Ren opened his eyes and gently bit his lips.
In the ancient ancestral hall, the huge tree closed its eyes tightly.
The mist lingered, and the air was stagnant. Unlike the outside world, this atmosphere was like an old record, and everything that happened here would leave deep or shallow marks.
For instance, the conversation that occurred not long ago.
“Fu Xingchuan.” Fu Wuya called out to his many generations great-grandson. “I know what you’re thinking, but my corpse cage technique isn’t that simple. There are things…”
“There are ‘those things’ that exude Evil Force.”
Fu Xingchuan didn’t look back.
“Minister Jiao also mentioned them… Well, there’s also such creatures in the ‘Archive’ of the mentally ill. I know that they probably belong to the ‘other Side’.”
After all, Fu Wuya was a Charon.
Unlike Jiao Lian, who physically moved around, Elder Fu used his abilities to forcibly merge spaces of “this side” and “the other side”, twisting out a “junction door”. His first door wasn’t big, and it was difficult for people to travel through, but it had the powerful effect of distorting space.
And in this process, there would always be nefarious things from “the other side” who would be attracted to the junction.
These types of nefarious beings were fixed. Not only were they tiny, but they were also pitifully weak. When the corpse cage technique failed, they would instantly dissipate in the air, leaving only a little bit of Evil Force behind.
Fu Xingchuan once donated five corpse cages to Shian for research, but unfortunately, after this thing left the corpse cage, it was unable to survive stably on “this side”, and the research fell into a bottleneck.
“If that evil is really Zhong Yi, perhaps there will be some new discoveries beyond the ordinary.”
Fu Wuya was silent for a while. He stretched out a trembling branch and pressed the mute button on the TV remote control.
“This is a risky move. You may irritate him.” There was a little more unhappiness in Fu Wuya’s voice. “And if that person is really Zhong Yi, your approach is disrespectful…”
“Disrespectful? I don’t think so.”
Fu Xingchuan still didn’t look back. He scratched the back of his head, and the tassel earring on his ear swayed with his movements.
“Those little things aren’t destructive. We have tried them ourselves. The game’s design isn’t only for him. If something goes wrong, we can immediately intervene… It’s better than going into a serious battle.”
“If he is really Zhong Yi, at most he will dislike me and won’t spread his hostility to Shian as a whole.”
Fu Xingchuan didn’t go on.
As the former leader of Huajisi and as a thousand-year-old fox, Fu Wuya understood the implications behind these words.
Thinking that Unit 9 had been in the Archive, let alone Fu Xingchuan, Fu Wuya was a little nervous—ordinary metaphysicians would at most experience a short-term psychological trauma when they came into contact with those things. As Yin Ren was a powerful evil, god knew what kind of special reaction he would have.
The unknown in battle was the worst. Commuting to and from work with a nuclear bomb wasn’t scary; the scary thing was when this nuclear bomb exploded as soon as it was touched.
It was hard to say if Shian could prevent Yin Ren from being exposed to “unknown creatures” from Sunken Society, so it was better to give him a “vaccine” in a controlled environment and see his possible reaction in advance.
Whether it was a physical response or an emotional response, they would all become valuable basis for judgment…
Judging whether they could have a “deep cooperation”.
……
He understood the truth, but still, it could be Zhong Yi. Fu Wuya ended his memories and maintained the corpse cage technique in melancholy.
“Ancestors forgive me. Ancestors bless me…” The evil tree muttered as its branches dug circles on the nearby stone wall.
Perhaps it was his illusion, but Fu Wuya felt that since Fu Xingchuan knew his remaining lifespan, his temperament was that of a dead pig not afraid of boiling water*.
*Refers to someone who has no fear and isn’t afraid of danger or consequences.
At the same time, in the ground floor of the Fu family’s main house.
Zhong Chengshuo fiddled with the talisman buttoned on his clothes, and the levitation technique suddenly failed. He landed on the ground, bent his back, and looked warily at Yin Ren.
Yin Ren’s state wasn’t right.
The Evil Force detector on Zhong Chengshuo’s body didn’t show a warning that this person was out of control, but Zhong Chengshuo could see that Yin Ren was in a trance. His eyes were staring straight at him with no inner light.
Affected?
…By what?
Zhong Chengshuo quickly made a decision. He abandoned his excess luggage and bounced out like a beast. While Yin Ren was still in a daze, he grabbed Yin Ren’s phone that he was holding.
Zhong Chengshuo decisively launched the Coffin Nail app and turned on the voice call mode.
“Yin Ren’s state isn’t right. Lu Tanfei, are you still there?”
Zhong Chengshuo tightly fixed Dog Thing to his nylon belt pocket and pulled down Yellow Millet.
As a competent old cushion, Yellow Millet immediately noticed something was wrong with Yin Ren. It allowed itself to be pinched by Zhong Chengshuo without making a sound.
“Lu Tanfei, please answer if you can hear me.” Zhong Chengshuo raised his voice.
“…Sss…Sss… I can hear… Sorry, I’m not familiar using voice…”
An old man’s hoarse reply came from the phone.
Zhong Chengshuo sighed with relief. Sure enough, this thing could turn what he couldn’t see into visible text messages, and it could do the same with sound.
“What happened to Yin Ren?”
“I don’t know, but there are a lot of strange things on the ground… The aura isn’t like an evil being. They look like white silk everywhere, and their eyes are like flower buds. They keep repeating, ‘I don’t want to die’, ‘Someone is waiting for me’… What are these things? What should I do?”
The old man sounded at a loss.
In the shaking light, Zhong Chengshuo looked at Yin Ren, who was stumbling towards him, and took a few steps back.
In the thick darkness, those eyes were dazzling. It was just that there was no will to fight or malice in them—only a strong sense of powerlessness.
“They—they have entangled Xiao Yin’s feet and are still climbing up!” On the phone, Grandpa Lu was broadcasting in real time.
Zhong Chengshuo lowered his gaze. He swept the light across but found nothing on Yin Ren’s smooth ankle.
…It was still a bit troubling that he couldn’t see.
Zhong Chengshuo whisked his hand to the back pocket of his waist. Hearing two clicks, a folding baton engraved with runes appeared in his hand. A chain hung from the end of the baton, and the metal grip on the chain dangled slightly.
This was the gentlest weapon he wielded.
“Yin Ren!” Zhong Chengshuo tried to awaken his lover. “Yin Ren, can you hear me?”
However, Yin Ren’s gaze became more lax, and his breathing gradually became chaotic. He looked up and down at Zhong Chengshuo, whose back was drenched in sweat.
Hearing Zhong Chengshuo’s call, his steps paused a little. Unfortunately, in the next second, his hands stretched out together and reached for Zhong Chengshuo. The fingernails on his fingertips had turned an ominous black.
They were surrounded by brownish-red walls of flesh, covered with broken holes of varying sizes. Zhong Chengshuo knew that he could at least make a quick escape by turning his back and hiding in the darkness.
In the face of unknown conditions, fleeing was the most foolproof approach.
But…
King Yama stepped on the dirty corpse with his bare feet, motionless, but he didn’t even bother to be concerned about it.
“It climbed up to his knees, and those little buds are still dripping water… It’s like it’s crying. How scary,” Grandpa Lu said. “Xiao Zhong, do you understand? What should I do?”
“First, find a safe place to hide and continue to report.” Zhong Chengshuo’s entire body tightened as he readied himself to exert force at any moment.
One step. Another step.
Those hands were getting closer to him.
As an evil, Yin Ren could teleport. This slow and struggling way of moving forward should be the result of Yin Ren’s hard struggle.
Yin Ren was still sober.
Zhong Chengshuo reached up with his metal claws and grabbed onto the ceiling, suspending himself in mid-air. Yin Ren’s grasp missed, and he looked up bewilderedly. With a swing of the thin chain, Zhong Chengshuo swung behind Yin Ren.
As soon as he landed, Zhong Chengshuo lowered his center again and assumed a combat posture.
“Zhong Cheng…shuo…”
Yin Ren spoke in a distorted voice. Under the light, those red eyes stared wide without blinking.
“Why…did…you…leave…?”
Lu Tanfei floated high in the flesh cavity, sending thoughts towards Coffin Nails. “It’s climbing to his waist. It’s climbing to his waist! Xiao Yin is acting like he can’t see anything. It’s terrible!”
“Why…?” Yin Ren was still murmuring. His fingers twitched, and the black hair on the back of his head was about to move.
Zhong Chengshuo was leaning against the wall of flesh. He forced himself to adjust his breathing, and his head was spinning rapidly.
Attacked by the bizarre “non-evil object” and having no perception of the attacker… suddenly becomes extremely confused emotionally and is unable to think properly…
He had seen such symptoms before.
In the Archive, Huang Jin was attacked by a fleshy xanthium, and his symptoms were exactly the same as Yin Ren’s. Judging from Huang Jin’s later description, it should be that a certain emotion had been extremely magnified.
But after that, Zhong Chengshuo couldn’t reason any further.
At the beginning, Huang Jin was worried about Ding Lizi, so he could understand that logically, but for Yin Ren… He was someone who deeply understood human emotions.
At this time, if this person were sober, he would explain the source of those emotions with a smile and then come up with a smooth way to resolve them. Yin Ren seemed to have never had serious troubles. What kind of “emotional weakness” did a person who had traveled through hundreds of years have?
Under the extreme amplification of “emotional weakness”, what would Yin Ren do to him?
They had only been dating for a short time, and their relationship was far from the point of death. Some just approached cautiously and tentatively. Zhong Chengshuo couldn’t find any special signs, and there were too many unknowns.
Zhong Chengshuo clenched the baton in his hand. For the first time, he found that the weapon he held was incredibly heavy.
The other party hadn’t released his will to fight yet, so he should escape. He should take precautions… He should…
Some kind of feeling he wasn’t familiar with tied his feet and put a heavy weight on his heart. Logic and instinct were strongly advising him to leave, but Zhong Chengshuo’s legs were firmly nailed to the ground.
In the darkness full of corruption, the surrounding things were soaked in thick, dead air, as if everything no longer existed.
Zhong Chengshuo tried to raise the weapon with his right hand, but his left hand moved first. He grabbed the nylon strap vaguely, but unfortunately, the chocolate chips he had packed in the luggage bag weren’t on him.
He couldn’t even use the old method to appease this person.
“Yin Ren.”
Looking at his lover, who was approaching step by step, Zhong Chengshuo spoke with some confusion.
“I don’t know what to do.”
“I…” Yin Ren spat out his words with difficulty. His red eyes were already muddy. “I don’t want to…”
“I don’t understand,” Zhong Chengshuo said softly.
He couldn’t understand Yin Ren’s abnormality at the moment, just as he didn’t understand why Yin Ren was angry before… He had seen so many works and documents in which people expressed their emotions, but none of them could analyze the heart of a thousand-year-old evil.
“Zhong…” Yin Ren’s hair began to slither on the ground.
Zhong Chengshuo moved.
He held the chain in his mouth and flung his hands. Dozens of long needles pierced in all directions. They extended into red lines and sealed in the small cavity of the flesh. In an instant, the spreading aura was completely sealed off with no overflow.
“Those things are about to completely wrap Xiao Yin!” Lu Tanfei coughed nervously again. “Xiao Zhong, aren’t you invulnerable to ghosts and spirits? Can’t you tear them off?”
“They don’t have a physical body. I can’t do it.”
Zhong Chengshuo stared tightly at Yin Ren and pinched Yellow Millet as if by magic.
“Yellow Millet, I’ll throw you out. Immediately grow bigger and hold Yin Ren back,” Zhong Chengshuo said quickly. “I’ll contact Fu Xingchuan.”
The problem was difficult to solve, so it was “most reasonable” to obtain support as soon as possible.
Yellow Millet let out a grunt as if unafraid of death and turned completely black, like it was simulating closing its eyes. But it waited for a long time and was still held firmly in Zhong Chengshuo’s palm.
“No.”
Zhong Chengshuo had deformed Yellow Millet’s shape from the pinching.
“If a better solution can’t be found…”
These things appeared here because Shian deliberately did this. He and Yin Ren weren’t contestants in the ordinary sense. If their performance was too bad, Fu Xingchuan would reassess Yin Ren’s danger and stability.
Indeed, the danger of “Yin Ren”.
Zhong Chengshuo froze in place. He suddenly understood where the “difficulty” of his thinking came from.
“I’m only used to thinking about how ‘I’ can get back in one piece… This is the first time I’ve tried thinking about ‘we’.”
The red lines on the long needles flickered as Evil Force rushed back and forth in the narrow space. Yin Ren’s godless red eyes were locked firmly on Zhong Chengshuo, and a vague murmur was coming from his throat.
Zhong Chengshuo stuffed Yellow Millet, who was puffing, back into his pocket. His baton swung in a circle in the shadows, and a dim light flashed across the edge.
“Yin Ren, I’ll come up with a more suitable solution.”
The author has something to say:
I found out that after writing about the cockroach, no one wanted to talk to me anymore!
…The cockroach chapter is over. Really, look at my sincere eyes.
Kinky Translations 